Fallen Angels
by Mr Wang 330
Summary: After the outbreak, we were all but dead. But he gave us hope, faith, family, a haven in hell. But the price of his "salvation" was steep indeed... I knew though, that worshiping him was better than the fate that befell everyone else.
1. Bleeding Tears Through the Sky

_Act 1: Bleeding Tears Through the Sky._

I took a few stirs in my sleep, just trying to hide away from light creaking through my window. But, there really wasn't any use, not anymore. I've grown with the habit of just forcing myself to wake up at the slightest disturbance anyway...

As I begrudgingly lift off the sheets, I look around me to see my dorm room. It was in its usual disarray, but everything was where it needed to be, and that was what mattered. Taking a glance at my clock resting not to far away, I got my first indication that today wasn't really a good day.

"_Shit. _I'm late."

I quickly went over to my closet and got together my uniform and school stuff. I looked in the mirror to try and organize myself. A rather tired looking brown-haired guy gazed back at me in my reflection, as I tried to straighten my hair into something acceptable. I didn't bother to button up the black jacket of my uniform. I just left it casually open... Still, taking a second glance at the mirror, I'd definitely seen better days.

When I was pretty much ready, I wasn't really too worried about getting in trouble for missing class if managed to scrounge up a suitable excuse. But damn it, this was the second time this week. My _habit _still seems to be a load of crap, if I keep sleeping in late. Leaving through the door, I was, as always, greeted by the always plain and rather dim hallways of Fujimi Academy. Yes, the boarding school which I affectionately call my home away from home... and good riddance, I say. Old home had too much shit going on with my family, I had to get away from all that. Dad practically kicked me out of the house. All that, plus I'm getting a decent education here as well. Win-win, right?

I keep my stuff close to me as I continue to get around, but the further I walk, I just see more and more students wandering around. Nobody at campus really heavily enforces attendance, perhaps a reason for why I'm not rushing or anything, so much as I am just taking a casual stroll through the hallways. Hell, I felt really inclined to just wait this class out and hang around until the next one starts, and get to homeroom before the next teacher gets there.

As I walk around, mainly sticking to the inside of the buildings and whatnot, I'm still thinking to myself that over here at Fujimi, we've got it here pretty good. Life's pretty leisurely, we got a bunch of clubs and sports to go around... Ping-pong, Soccer, Archery, you name it. It feels great to be the shortstop on the Fujimi Academy baseball team, I'll say. We've even got a damn _observatory _at the top of one of our buildings. I don't even like astronomy, but that place is pretty cool to look through every once in a while. Hell, on some days, I forget that this is an actual academy. It's all _very _damn good. Almost makes me want to crack a smile on the spot.

"Yo, Toshio-san!"

I heard the voice, and it was a familiar and welcome one. I turned around to see a certain blonde guy, with a trademark charming, loser smile.

"Morita, how's it going?" I said, as I greeted him.

Morita's this funny guy I've known for a while. Free-spirited, energetic, and... hopelessly perverted. Granted I am too at times, but at least I like to be a gent about it. He's just the poor sap that sometimes comes to me for advice, and talks about the girls in school... not that my sayings are always guaranteed to help him anyway. I've never technically had a girlfriend, and we're more or less traveling on the same boat... But at least I'm marginally more successful than this guy when it comes to the ladies.

"Eh, I just left trying to give a pep-talk to Komuro. The poor guy's been kinda depressed lately that his girl left him for someone else."

I nodded my head, as the two of us just seemed to walking around the halls, with no real destination in mind for either of us.

"No shit? I thought he would've been tougher than that," I commented. "Didn't his girl, Miyamoto, promise to marry him or something when they were kids?"

"Yeah, well you can certainly tell how well childhood commitments usually go when the guys enter high school."

I sighed, feeling almost sorry for the two. Then again, Morita was sort of right. You had to be a real dedicated person to fulfill out some childhood dreams, and more often than not, as you get older, the cruel harshness of reality quells those burning desires.

"Speaking of which, it true that you had a night with Miku last week? I kinda thought that Fumiko was already your girl..." Morita asked, out of the blue.

I paused for a moment, before laughing a bit, albeit nervously.

"Miku's a whore, and you know it. The whole damn school knows it. That thing between us was temporary. She gets a new boyfriend every week, I just happened to be swept up in that cycle," I quickly replied. Morita simply smirked.

"Yeah? Well, you getting a one-day-deal with her's way, way farther than anywhere I've ever gotten. And with the hottest girl in school, no less! You're one of my god damn heroes, Toshio!"

It felt kind of weird to be praised for something like that, but nevertheless, I took my friends praise, and almost felt like I kinda wanted proud of it, myself. However odd and vulgar that might've seen. More or less it was just a false sense of pride I felt swelling up.

"What about Kawamura-san, then? She's still your girl, right?" Morita continued.

"Heh, Fumiko's not my girl, man," I replied. I slowly couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Not yet, anyway."

My fellow perv gave me a hearty pat on the back. It honestly felt a little fucked up talking about Fumiko in this manner, but... well, everyone says or does stupid shit when they're around their friends, so I didn't let myself get too bothered by it.

"Hey, that's my man!" he exclaimed. He then paused for a moment, as his face somewhat got a little less enthused, as he thought more on the issue. "You know, now that I think of it, you and Komuro both suffer from 'Unlucky Childhood Friend' syndrome, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, look at it this way: Komuro and Miyamoto were childhood friends. Destined to love each other, like any other sappy romantic novel you'd read or something. Then Komuro lost her. You yourself seem pretty determined to get with Kawamura, a girl you've known since you were like, what, eight? Though you ever wonder if you've been confined to the friend-zone or not?"

"Well, if worst comes to worst, I can just get another night with Miku, right?" I laughed.

"Yeah, well... Fumiko Kawamura ain't no slouch either, you still have some impressive taste."

We both started laughing together, with him proclaiming that I was probably the greatest player in Fujimi Academy. Honestly, I still felt a bit fucked up about it. I mean, in all honesty, yeah, I did like Fumiko. A lot. Really, perhaps part of me doesn't like to accept that I'm simply just her friend. Or, part of me is just fine with being closer to her, than any other guy has ever gotten to her, even if I am just a friend. And really, the fling I had with Miku a week ago was... well, I wasn't too proud of it. I still felt somewhat like I turned my back on Fumiko, which is why I sorta broke it off... I mean... Yuuki Miku's still hot, but...

Bah, look at me starting to think of this romantic crap. I mean, I can be the Romeo or Casanova when I want to be, but right now, I'm in front of my friend, and I don't want to lose face. I'll probably be thinking in a more sensible manner later.

We eventually just killed some time talking about this and that, doing what friends do. After a while, he was simply starting to name off girls in this "Report" of his, which detailed the hottest girls in school. Even I was impressed by the detail of his homework, though I told him if he attempted to "research" Fumiko, and ends up offending her in some way, I'd break his skull in. It was a notion that he agreed to take to heart, with extra consideration.

Suddenly, I heard some feedback coming from the school intercoms, and I had Morita shut up for just a moment to hear what the announcements said for this morning. You could hear that the guy seemed to be having a hard time using the microphone though, almost like as if he was holding it within shaky hands.

_**"Attention all students! A fight has broken out on campus! Please follow your instructors and evacuate from the school."**_

I paused for a moment as I tried to take that information in.

"A fight? There's got to be a hell of a lot more than that going on if the school has to be evacuated..." I said, rather incredulously.

Morita simply shrugged.

"Maybe some bastard outside has a gun or something? Terrorist attack?" he joked. I didn't really seem too amused, so I continued to listen in.

_**"I repeat. A fight has broken out on campus. Please follow your instructors..."**_

The announcer on the intercom was cut off after that, and there was an eery silence that soon followed. I'm pretty sure that no matter where you were, throughout the entire campus, you could've heard a pin drop.

"What the fuck?"

We then heard some feedback in the background of the intercom, and the sounds of a bunch of glass breaking, and objects rustling.

_**"Ah! Help me! Stop! Help! No, no! HELP! NOOO!"**_

The rustlings and objects breaking in the background got gradually louder, until the announcer was cut off by the most god damn _agonizing _and fucking _terrifying _death cry you could imagine.

My friend and I stood wide-eyed, as we glanced over at each other.

"Holy shit..." I muttered.

"We gotta get the fuck out here!" Morita cried out.

Before he could even finish that sentence, I could hear the panic and shrieks going on throughout the entire campus. Doors were practically rammed through, as I saw that the entire hallway was immediately flooded with frantic students all trying to escape whatever the hell killed the the guy on the intercom. The school turned into a complete clusterfuck in less than a second, and me and Morita were now caught up in it.

Without a second thought, both of us outran the thundering crowd that was running behind us. I couldn't even god damn think without hearing everyone just letting out their most blood-curdling scream all at once... I can't believe I was just calmly talking to Morita about girls just about 30 seconds ago, now, I'm scared _shitless_. And worst of all, I didn't even know what the hell is going on yet!

As we were running down the stairway, something entered my mind, which made me stop in my tracks completely.

"What the hell are you doing, Toshio? We gotta go, come on!"

"No... I gotta go back, for Fumiko!" I said, as I ran down the stairs and went into a hallway on the second floor of the lecture hall. Thankfully, looks like the hallway I entered was pretty clear, and most of the students were already gone from there, probably running down the stairs to the outside. Several stragglers scampered past me, paying heed towards nothing but their own safety.

"Damn it, your obsession with her is gonna get you killed! Killed by... by whatever the hell's been going on here! I don't wanna die, man, I want to live, have a wife, have sex and a future! I've got shit to do when I get older!"

"Oh, calm the hell down, Morita! We haven't even seen what's been going on, and I don't think we're all gonna die," I replied. But... I myself questioned whether or not I spoke that out of bravado and determination to find Fumiko, or whether I actually believed that. Truth be told, this is the first time I've seen him out of his happy-go-lucky attitude, and frankly, it was disturbing. I desperately tried to get some encouragement, not just for Morita, but myself too.

"Look, we'll go to my dorm room, I'll grab a couple of my bats. Would it make you feel better if some terrorist walked up, and you'd be able to smash his head in?"

Morita didn't look entirely convinced, but I did briefly see him crack a smile, perhaps just thinking about himself being the hero for a day. Ultimately though, he merely flailed his arms in frustration and resigned.

"Damn it Toshio, I'm gonna regret this..."

With that, we quickly ran out of the lecture hall, onto the walkway on the second floor, which joined the classroom building over to the dorms. But when he and I walked outside, we looked at that horrors that awaited us outside.

The sun had slowly grown hidden within the clouds, darkening the atmosphere. Students, teachers, and staff alike were all running around in pure, and utter chaos. And yet... at the same time... they were attacking _each other_. Girls screaming in terror as a group of students seemingly and mindlessly gang up on them, leaving blood in their wake. Students pleading for their teachers to help them, only for them to be attacked in return. Friends watching in horror as their comrades are being... god damn _devoured_ by their other friends. People getting torn apart. Lovers trying to escape, only to be abandoned each of them dying alone. Teachers committing suicide, convincing themselves of this only being a dream. The campus was stained with the blood of everyone trapped within it.

"What the fuck is going on...?" I quietly muttered.

Morita looked on at the carnage, silent, before he rushed on ahead of me.

"Damn it man, I did _not _sign up for this shit!"

I didn't bother to try and scold him, or make him shape up or anything; in all honesty, I felt the exact same way. I still didn't know what the hell was happening, or why students were seemingly resorting to cannibalizing each other in a horribly grotesque form, but I felt more determined than ever to try and get a weapon, and look for Fumiko.

Her safety was all that was on my mind now. That, and getting my own ass out of this mess.

We reached the dorm rooms, heading straight into my room. The hallways were silent, save for our echoing footsteps, and this... this horrid moaning, ambiance. You could hear faint, gurgles and moans coming from people, as if they're trying to says something... but for some reason, they're only letting out these pained sounds out. It's like one of those novelty haunted house attractions, except this shit's actually _happening for real_. I quickly became just as frantic, if not more so than Morita, as we headed towards my room, hastily jamming my keys into the lock before I got inside. I looked through my things, digging through drawers, containers, anything, just trying to find something that would be of use to me. I quickly found my team's batting helmet, figuring that for whatever the hell was going on, it'd probably be of use to me. Placing it on my head, I looked through my closet and found a couple baseball bats for Morita and I. Arming ourselves was of the utmost importance now, if we wanted to live.

"So, what's next, Slugger?" Morita asked me, somewhat sarcastically. It was still crazy, but not at all unwelcome, he was able to at least maintain that _some_ comedic mood in all this horror.

"We get back to the lecture hall, and I try to find Fumiko. She was supposed to be in Mr. Shido's class, 3A, when this fuckfest started, so I'd try looking around there first."

"Do you not remember all those hundreds of kids leaving at once, when that guy on the intercom died what sounded like a pretty_ gruesome _death? What makes you think she's still gonna be at the lecture hall?"

"I know Fumiko. I know where she goes, when she has a bad day. And I'm usually almost always there to accompany her. I'm not gonna back down right now."

My friend gave me a casual pat on the back, his face still displaying genuine surprise, but giving off a slight smile.

"Damn Toshio, you _are_ a gent, you know that? What's stopping Kawamura from just going on her god damn knees for you and-"

I quickly jabbed Morita in the stomach with the handle of my bat. I looked at him sternly, but both of us knew damn well he was joking. And despite my impulsive reaction, I knew that his general upbeat nature was at least encouraging in this whole scary fiasco. I wasn't about to let him have the satisfaction of knowing that just yet, though.

"Shit man, even in the end of the damn world, you're still a bit of a stiff," he laughed.

"I don't think the world's ending just yet."

After giving him a hand to stand up straight after he was done reeling from the pain, I nodded my head and gestured for him to come along with me. Our baseball bats in hand, we cautiously headed out of my dorm room. As we walked around, we were horrified to see the hallways in the dorms to scattered with blood and bodies. I never noticed this when I was dashing towards my room to get the bats, so I couldn't tell if I was simply that ignorant as I was running, or if this all shit happened in just a short amount of time. For now, it didn't matter.

As we headed towards the walkway back towards the lecture hall, I noticed one of the dead bodies twitching its hand. I gestured for Morita to stop and look. The body was of a school girl, her skin drenched in blood, and parts of her hair torn out from her head. And what parts of her skin that were visible revealed that her she was awfully saturated in an unhealthy shade of grey. But that wasn't even the worst part.

"Christ, something ripped her fucking face off..." Morita said, trembling. She was missing a chunk of flesh off of her cheek, leaving what was left of her teeth, gums, and the inside of her mouth fully visible. I saw Morita holding back his attempts to vomit. What made this probably even scarier more for him than I, is that he probably knew this girl (he knew practically every girl in school), and that she could've been one of the ladies on his A-list, before this shit happened.

But then that's when we noticed the body start to twitch again.

"No fucking way... she's dead, that should be blatantly obvious. Why the fuck is she moving?" I asked aloud. Morita was simply shaking, not really being able to fathom an answer.

Cautiously, I went up towards the girl's body, taking my bat and trying to poke her with it, to see if I'd get some sort of reaction from her. I gently nudged her shoulder.

Like a crude marionette, the girl's head was slowly raised. She rolled open her eyes, revealing them to be a rather morbidly pale shade of yellow, her pupils being so tight, like pinpoints, making them feel that they might as well have been nonexistant.

"Jesus, Christ!"

I panicked, and backed away from the thing, however, the girl quickly reacted herself. She grabbed a hold of my baseball bat, actually attempting to sink her teeth into it. The bitch must've thought it was my arm or something.

In my vain attempts to wrestle my bat free from her grasp, I glanced over towards Morita, who was cowering in fear.

"What are you waiting for, bash her fucking head in!"

I realized that the thing was now actually gripping my bat to pull me closer to her, noting that I wasn't about to let go any time soon. She opened her decaying mouth, as she leaned forward and got way too close for comfort. Inside, her mouth looked like a dark, dank gate to Hell. I shrieked in horror as I let go of my bat and took a few steps back. I didn't give a fuck about being manly or badass, I only cared about making sure I didn't die, making sure Morita doesn't die, and that Fumiko doesn't die.

I got away in time to see her brains bashed out by my friend, who's bat was stained in her blood. He was breathing heavily and uneasily, as the girls' body slowly crumpled to the ground.

"What the fuck..." he managed to wheeze, in between his breaths. "...was that what... I fucking think it was...?"

I took my bat out from out of her cold, lifeless fingers, unnerved that a few of her teeth were still embedded in the wood.

"What is this shit? A zombie apocalypse?"

"Don't fucking say that word, man!" he sharply interjected. "Some... god damn horror movie shit... why the fuck is this happening?"

"What word?" I retorted, though genuinely confused.

"The... the fucking _z-word_, man... Oh, Christ, this is _not _happening... is this some kind of sick joke?"

Obviously, Morita had something against the word "zombie", I'm guessing. Of course... he's likely in denial that that's what this really is. His rantings made that somewhat clear. Honestly... I don't blame him at all. I have a hard time trying to wrap my head around the fact that a fucking _zombie_ just tried to eat me... and it's... horrifying.

My sympathy was interrupted, as looked behind me. More of_ them _were starting to move about and slowly get up from off the ground.

"Shit, that's not good..." I muttered under my breath. "C'mon, we gotta keep moving. And get used to having to use that, we're likely gonna have to kill more of these things along the way."

"Easy for you to say, Toshio," Morita said back. He took a few more deep breaths to try and compose himself. "Let's... let's just go. I hope your girlfriend is worth going through all of this crap."

I nodded silently to myself. My grip on my bat tightened.

It's a nightmare turning real.

But I know I have to walk and wallow through the dead if I wanted to bring back Fumiko, and get the hell out of here alive.

As I got out onto the walkway with Morita close by, I could still see the clouds looming over us. I swore that I felt just the slightest drop of liquid splash itself on my cheek as I looked up. Wiping it off, I sighed. Glancing at the carnage which we overlooked, I felt my eyes get slightly watery, as I advanced onward, the light rain starting to pick up. I walked on, with the rain on my back...

And the sun was bleeding tears through the sky.


	2. Going Through Hell

_Act 2: Going Through Hell_

Morita and I quickly escaped the rain as soon as we re-entered the lecture hall.

And _Jesus Christ, _just when I thought the dorms looked like a shithole, the classes are almost ten times worse.

The corpse pileups were a hell of a lot bigger than they were in the dorms.

Dried up blood seemed to be the new choice of paint for the walls and tilings.

I could see a bunch of people moaning and wandering around slowly... except, I'm sure as hell that they're not _people_ anymore.

_And don't even get me fucking started on the smell._

"So, any bright plans to get to 3A, Toshio?"

I glanced over at my friend, who was still a bit shaky from having to kill that girl earlier. _God _that still creeped me the fuck out.

"Come on, we need to get to the stairwell. Shido's class is just the floor above us, we shouldn't have too hard a time getting there."

I started to lead the way. Navigating the bloodstained halls, and watching for any movements from one of _them_, I cautiously tried to prepare myself if one of them chose me as their next dinner. We softly stepped, trying to not make a single noise to attract the attention of those things. Luckily, we seemed to be getting off relatively scott-free without anything going for us.

My hands were still just shaking impulsively though.

I could actually see the _faces _of those things. There were two kinds of zombie faces, both of which outright fucking _horrified _me: The first ones, were the grotesquely deformed, shredded, mutilated, decaying, or any other face that looked like being held against a wood-chipper would be the only reasonable explanation for its current state. Exhibit A: That girl Morita killed. The second ones, I guess were even scarier to me, in a much more subtler way. The faces of my friends, or at least the people I knew, slowly decaying and trapped within their state.

I was seeing all these expressions on the zombies faces, and most of them were simply stuck in this rigor-mortis form of what they looked like right before they died. The most common? Pure, and utter horror. So their faces just seemed to be trapped that way...

"Oh, shit! Toshio, hate to interrupt your train of thought or whatever, but you've got a guy on your six!"

I snapped out of my stupified terror to toake a glance behind me. A guy who's uniform was shredded up, and was missing a chunk on his shoulder was walking towards, arms outstretched. But he was still walking slow as hell. I felt a bit more confident this time, though I still wasn't sure how this would go. I started to think of all the old movies that I watched when I was younger, whenever there were zombies: You gotta smash their head, shoot them in the head, or something. It seemed to work when Morita killed that one girl, I decided I had to try that myself.

Took a bit of a batting stance, trying to put a positive, more familiar spin on things. I'm Shortstop on the baseball team, right? I just gotta... try and imagine that thing's head to be a ball coming in at the plate. A _really _slow ball. Then hit it for a home run...

_God damn it_, now I'm never gonna look at this sport the same way again.

Not letting its moans and growls distract me, I tensed my muscles up as I swung the bat as hard as I could, just before the monster could even touch me with it's scaly, decaying arms. I closed my eyes as soon as I swung, and it took me a few moments to open them up again after I felt the bat hit something. Sure enough, I looked down and saw that all that was left of the thing's head was just a bunch of shattered skull, with skin keeping it together. Its contents were graciously splattered on the wall. Hell of a lot more gruesome than what Morita had done.

I quickly looked away from the display, and noticed Morita, who was looking at in some sort of awe or something.

"Damn dude, was that what would happen to me if I added Kawamura to my report?"

I glanced back at the thing I just killed, and I almost wanted to laugh at my friend's joke. Something in my stomach though prevented me from doing that though. It was nice to hear him still wisecracking, but it didn't really make me feel better, not at the moment.

"Come on, the stairwell's just down this hall."

We started treading towards there, still being extra-careful, and trying to not make any noise. Evidently, those things don't really perceive the sound footsteps. Then again, another thought entered my mind: If they did hear footsteps, then they probably would be attacking each other. So maybe they tune it out, or they're deaf... Frankly, I don't want to stick around and experiment with shit. I started to slightly pick up the pace, with Morita following behind me.

I got to the end of the hallways, no further problems. God damn, I remember when it took me just 30 seconds, and not 10 damn minutes just to walk from when end of the hall to the other.

I entered the stairwell, but when I looked up, I found a few more of _them_ walking up the stairs. That's when I looked up a bit further, and I felt my heart sink a bit.

"You're fucking kidding me..."

The way to the third floor from the stairwell was barricaded up, with a bunch of desks, tables, and cabinets all lined up and stacked together. From a gap in that makeshift wall, I could actually see someone, a _person,_ stacking a final desk before that tiny window was sealed.

"Hey, wait!" I called out. I'm pretty damn sure whoever was up there could hear me. Unfortunately, the things that were trying to get past the crude barricade also heard me. Their attention was then directed to me.

Shit. So much for assuming they're deaf.

"Toshio, who are you yelling at-"

I looked behind me to see Morita following me, but as soon as he saw the things in front of me, he quickly quelled his voice as he backed away some. Sighing, I tightened by grip on my bat. Glancing down the stairs to the lower levels, I thought of a quick idea to get these guys out of the way. Backing away from _them_ slightly, I waited for them to get in the right spot before I smacked my bat into one of their stomachs. A zombie stumbled a bit, before he bumped into his friend, and both of them were sent tumbling down the stairs. The remaining one picked up its pace as it got closer to me. Reacting quickly, kicked it in the shin, tripping it up a bit before I kicked him again, this time down the stairs. I felt pretty much in the clear at this point, until I felt something jerking my leg, causing me to fall, almost dragging me down the stairs too.

I frantically looked down to see the thing maintaining a firm grip around my leg, it opening its slimy mouth prepared to try and eat me. I struggled with trying to shake him off, but I knew I wouldn't be lasting long without help.

"Damn it, Morita, I think this is the time you save my ass!"

I was thankful that he didn't need any further encouragement. He quickly went in and smacked the guy in the head, making him let go of me as he tumbled down the stairs. Morita offered me a hand, as he pulled me up back on my feet. My heart was beating heavily, and I sighed as I adjusted the batting helmet on my head.

"For god's sake, man... don't just fucking stand there while I try to do most of the work, you're gonna get us both killed..." I scolded.

He didn't really reply, as he briefly looked to the ground then nodded at me. I was starting to get the feeling he was _really_ getting just broken by this whole ordeal. I mean, I was too, but at least I still had a goal, and that was to get Fumiko out of here. Morita was probably wondering what the hell kind of future was ahead for him.

Looking up, I still felt incredibly annoyed at the barricade made on the stairway entrance to the third floor. I knew that getting there now would get a hell of a lot more complicated. I started banging my fist on the pile of desks and cabinets.

"Hey, I know you can hear me over there!"

I heard a couple of voices whispering to each other, before one of them decided to speak out.

"You're... you're not bitten?"

"No, we're clean... I'm Toshio Ozaki, from class 3B. My friend Morita and I are trying to get up there. You mind if you clear up all this crap to let us through?" I asked, trying to put my most politely sincere tone.

"Fuck no!" said another voice. "Ever since this disaster happened, we've spent this whole time blocking this entrance to make sure none of _them _can get up here! What if we clear up all this shit, and some of those god damn monsters walk up and overwhelm us? We've got a whole class up here still!"

My brows raised at what the other one just said, my hopes starting to rise. The prospect of hearing about a whole class of survivors was uplifting for me, and I'm sure my was already feeling better too.

"A whole class?" Morita asked. I was just thinking the same thing.

I heard a couple more whispers coming from the other side.

"Listen, we'll talk more about that later... I... I can't say much, at the moment. We've boarded up all the entrances here to the third floor... but uh, I think except the doors leading to the walkway of the administration building. You can try there," the first voice called back.

"The admin building?" I asked. "You mean I have to walk my ass _outside_ first, to get here? The campus and admin building's probably overrun by now!"

"Listen here, asshole: We were about to board up that doorway, and we're under orders not to even let any outsiders in anyway. But since Kurokami here is such a chickenshit, he's convinced me to keep that door unboarded until you guys even get up here. And I _highly _doubt you douchebags would even survive trying to get here anyway," the second guy said.

"Orders? Tell whoever said that, he can take those orders and shove them up his ass. I'll be there in ten minutes. Fifteen tops," I barked out. "Asshole."

I started to head off down the stairs, and to be honest... I more or less said that time-frame out of frustration, and possibly just to fuck with that one hostile guy's head. And really... I didn't think that too much through.

"Fifteen fucking minutes? It took us ten minutes just to try and walk through that single hallway, Toshio! Are you insane?" Morita asked incredulously.

"No... not yet... We'll just start running, then."

I kinda tried to reply with my own sarcasm, though my sense of humor can be dry from time to time... and Morita didn't act like he appreciated it. With that, I started to pick up my pace down the stairs. The zombies I tripped up earlier were still struggling to get on their feet as I passed by. I took a moment to stomp and kick them in their heads, just to try and either kill them or slow them down some. I could still hear Morita's steps, as he tried to catch up with me. We managed to get down to the first floor... and it seemed like with every new area I stepped into, shit was just getting worse, and fucking _worse. _

Now I had the pleasure to view these sons a bitches _feeding _on those fortunate enough to have died completely before turning into one of _them._ Or at least I prayed they got the mercy of death first. Otherwise, they'd probably start moving, then join the bastards who were eating them right into the feast. Some of them looked intact enough to get up again... and others... I don't even know if they'd be identifiable anymore. And god, there was this... this sickly sweet smell in the air, something that... just contrasted with the horrible smells of decay and bodies, but... in a way, it was subtly worse than just smelling all the dead people.

Damn it, I felt shivers going down my fucking spine. If I hadn't defiantly said that I'd be around to the third floor of the lecture hall in fifteen minutes, I probably would've spent an hour or so puking in the very spot I was in.

I have _got _to stop staring at these things... My psyche would probably be more intact if I didn't have to notice _every fucking detail_ that my senses could perceive in these monsters.

"Shit man, you've been leading the way this long, don't back out on all of this! Don't give up after we've gone this far!"

I heard the hushed pep-talks of Morita, following a pat on the batting helmet over my head. He trying to get me to snap out of whatever terrified stupor I was in, and I felt really grateful I wasn't alone right now. I glanced over at him, and nodded my head.

"I know... we've got to get moving..."

I started walking really fast, just a few paces shy of running, trying to move as fast as I could without attracting too much attention to myself and Morita. My bat was held at the ready though, to bash in any of those monsters' heads.

As I made it to the end of the hall, I was thankful that I didn't seem to catch a zombie's attention. Most of _them_ were too busy eating, a fact which I felt thankful and uncontrollably freaked out about. And I'm pretty sure that Morita was just staring at the ground, following wherever my feet were going the whole time. I hated that I had to play leader for right now. Being a leader in this situation meant that I would be first to see whatever fucked up things awaited us at every entrance.

Morita and I stepped outside, and I looked up to see that the clouds were clearing, and the light shower had stopped at least. The moisture in the air was refreshing though. The air still reeked of the stench of decay, but at it smelled and felt better to breath in than what was being circulated inside the buildings. Off in the distance, I could see that there were more of _them _wandering past the campus gates, and there was a lot of dark smoke rising from the city horizon.

"Jesus, it's probably happening all over Tokonosu... or even all of Japan... damn it, I don't like this..."

Looking around my immediate surroundings, the situation didn't seem much better than what was going on indoors. There were still undead eating the living (or what was left of them), and there were still even more undead simply walking around like they owned the place (but really, I'm pretty sure that they did by now).

I continued walking along towards the administration building. I looked at the path ahead of me, and it was obvious I'd probably have to take some detours and go along an uneven, but somewhat safe path. _They _blocked the straightforward, conventional path.

Suddenly, in the midst of my scouting, I heard a couple of screams. I raised my bat, tensing up, and I quickly looked behind me. Thankfully, one of the screams wasn't from Morita. However, I did see him stare in horror off in some direction. Off in the distance towards where he was looking at, I could see a guy trying to defend himself from a group of _them _with just a rake. A girl was with him, though she was starting to get dragged in by the horde of zombies, practically guaranteeing there wouldn't be a way out for her. Most of the monsters that were surrounding the guy with the rake left him to focus on the girl... but Morita himself was more focused on the guy trying to fend _them _off.

"Oh my god, that's Takeda! We gotta go after him, man!"

My brows rose in surprise. Takeda was this friend of Morita's that he often mentioned, something of a partner in crime when it comes to hitting on the girls. But right now, I didn't think that mattered. He looked like he was in some pretty slim odds for survival, and his fate seemed like it was already sealed.

"He's fucked, Morita!" I quickly intervened, grabbing my friend by the shoulder. "We're gonna be walking into suicide if we go over to that horde!"

Then, I felt a sharp blow to my face, as I stumbled back. I had no idea what the hell hit me, and I was still trying to comprehend what the hell happened. At first I thought one of _them _got me, but then I looked up to see Morita's clenched fist, then I looked up further to see an almost furious expression on his face.

"Fuck you, Toshio! I'm with you to save your girl, and I think that itself is suicide! Do something for me first, then. You want to save your friend? Help me save mine first, you prick!"

Morita then started to run off towards the group of zombies attacking Takeda. I looked over towards the administration building, almost inclined to just leave them. But I didn't feel like I could abandon Morita, and I sure as hell couldn't just go in there alone.

So I ran off, in pursuit of him.

I started to just focus on the things in front of me, seeing bunch of their heads lined up perfectly for me to crush. With a strong swing from my bat, I managed to take out a couple of _them, _also sending their corpses falling and stumbling into the other undead, causing an almost comedic domino effect. I glanced over at Morita, who was acting like a fucking _beast _getting through the zombies. His adrenaline was pumping, I knew it, so I had to try and stay close behind him to make sure he didn't do anything rash. I glanced over at Takeda, who was seemingly relieved to see us.

I looked at what was behind him, and I knew that his peace of mind was temporary.

The poor bastard kept staring at us, almost like everything would be alright. Until one of _them _started dragging him by the leg, getting him to fall on the ground. More of _them_ then started to form a group around him while he was vulnerable.

"NO!"

I heard Morita shout out, as he was beating a zombie into submission. I saw him immediately run towards the horde of _them_ that were surrounding Takeda, as he tried to take them on and kill them one by one. I quickly rushed in to help him, not even choosing to think about killing them. It just... happened. I just let instinct take over, as I repeatedly swung my bat at the nearest thing that reeked the stench of decay. I wasn't thinking as I hit them, I was just _doing_. And I'm pretty sure that's the same way Morita felt too.

I don't know how much time passed. It could've been seconds. Maybe minutes, or hours spent killing these things. It certainly felt like forever, in that mere space of time... all the same, when it was all over, and we managed to take out the last one of _them_, it seemed like it happened so fast. I sighed in relief, as I felt my body become a bit weary. I felt almost slightly limp, as I ended up using my bat as a cane of sorts, but still gripping the handle out of paranoia.

I looked over at Morita, went over to inspect his friend, who was still on the ground. I grimaced slightly, though I didn't want to let Morita see that. Takeda had a bunch of wounds all over him, one in his leg, his chest... his neck... My friend kept shaking his body, as if to prompt a response from him.

"I'm sorry Morita... he's dead."

I felt sorry to break it to him... Morita was continually shaking his head, denying that fact. I wanted to go over there and comfort the poor guy, telling him we did our best. I took a step forward...

But that's when I saw Takeda's body twitch one of its hands. He started moving his limbs, as if regaining consciousness.

"Oh, thank god... see, he's not dead, Toshio!" Morita exclaimed, as he patted Takeda on the head. "Don't worry man, everything's gonna be okay, we're gonna get you help, and-"

That's when I saw Takeda's body start to rise from off the ground. And I instantly had flashbacks of the first zombie I met. He got up, in that same, creepy marionette fashion.

"Morita, get the fuck away from him... he's... he's one of _them_!"

It was made evidently clear to both of us, when we looked into his eyes. Those same, god damn empty eyes.

Takeda then opened up his mouth and sank his teeth into Morita's shoulder.

"No... NO!"

I ran up to Morita and Takeda, the former's pained screams echoing in my head, as I swung my bat so fucking hard into the zombie's head.

I don't know when he died, and after a while, I'm pretty sure that Takeda was on the ground, now dead for reals. But I didn't care. I kept bashing away, yelling every obscenities and vulgarity I could recall in my head, angry at how Morita came to save his friend... and we failed.

And this was what he got for being a better person than me.

I finally got an opportunity to calm the hell down... And I realized that at some point, I was repeatedly bashing the ground... because where the zombie's head used to be, there was now only just a pool of blood and small bits of brain.

My grip on my bat loosened in disbelief. I looked over at Morita, trying to see if he was alright. I felt like crying, and damn it, I felt a tear or two fall down by cheek. I shook his body, but he didn't respond at all. I was starting to feel choked up, as I picked up his bat and dragged along my friend's body. I looked up, and noticed that the coast was relatively clear towards the administration building, possibly one of the only uplifting sights I've seen in a while. That didn't make me feel one damn bit better about Morita though.

As I dragged him inside, I let go of him as I got near a desk. He looked dead, and he hadn't moved a hair since Takeda attacked him.

"God damn it... why is this happening?"

I knelt down, putting my bats on the ground, as I said a silent prayer for Morita. I sure as hell wasn't pious, but my posthumous words had to mean _something_.

After spending a few minutes mourning my friend, I decided that I had wasted a hell of a lot of time, and that those bastards on the third floor would have probably locked up the doors by now. I just hoped that that Kurokami guy would continue being nice enough to leave the way open for me. The asshole stationed with him though had other plans, which discouraged me.

Picking up my baseball bat, and leaving Morita's by his corpse, I sighed. With a tip of my helm, I bid farewell.

But then I paused, when I noticed his body twitch a bit.

"Oh my god... Jesus... God, no, this can't be happening..."

The body started to move around a bit, but by then, I had already seen enough. Morita had become one of _them_.

I did what my instinct told me. And this time, it told me to run. So that's exactly what I did. I felt a bit too weary to keep fighting without resting for a bit longer... but I knew that wasn't the real reason I ran away. Honestly, I didn't have the balls to kill my friend, and really, I felt even more fucked up just leaving him like that. But the world was going to shit... and if everything around me is dying, then my only fucking hope that I kept holding onto, was Fumiko. I pretty much accepted by now that everything I once cared for in this world is dead, except her. She seemed... so in-reach right now, like of all the things that entered my mind, she was probably the only thing I cared about that I could still save. And that's why I didn't want to let go.

I had many things to deal with right now...

I was still discouraged, at the fact that I was alone now.

I was still thinking about Morita's death.

I was still scared for my own life.

I was still afraid that those guys on the third floor would lock me out.

I was still plagued by the thoughts of Fumiko in danger, and me not being there for her.

And I was still scared of almost everything around me, because in my eyes, all I saw was what Hell looked like.

I tried going over anything inspirational that I've ever read or been told, because quite god damn frankly, I needed it. Cycling through my memories, I recalled a quote from some British guy who's name I couldn't remember, nor could I care to remember:

_"If you're going through hell, keep going."_

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading chapter 2. Now, I don't believe I made the proper introductions, so anyway, I'm Mr. Wang. This here is my first HotD fic, and I'm proud to be writing it. For those of you fellow fans of the series and otherwise, I would very much so appreciate some feedback on how I'm doing, and constructive criticism is welcome. So please, review, comment, add to your favorites, whatever. But most of all, I hope that you come back soon for the next installments of Fallen Angels.<strong>_  
><em>


	3. The Nightmares of Reality

_Act 3: The Nightmares of Reality  
><em>

I know Fumiko was that one little thread of hope that I was hanging onto, but with me having to witness my best friends' death and turning into one of _them_, I wasn't sure what the hell I was gonna do next.

My biggest battle right now was... being alone. If I fell victim to one of those things, there wasn't anyone to help me. I started to sweat a bit. I adjusted my batting helmet to try and wipe some of it off my brow, though that didn't really alleviate any real anxiety I may have felt.

All I could hear was just... the slight echoes and ambient moanings of my former classmates, trapped in their state between life and death. Thinking of Morita confined to that same fate was... was horrible. And it really hits you hard when he's one of those guys that really likes to... "celebrate life," let's say.

First I was feeling sorrow, but it was soon giving way to anger, rage, and all those other negative emotions. And I was self-consciously aware of it... but hell, I didn't care. I couldn't ever recall a time where I felt so god damn pissed off. And damn it, if there's any reason to justify one's rage, losing your best friend to a fucking zombie horde better be one of them.

I was walking up the stairs, and I made it to the second floor without any problems. But I felt I needed a bit of a distraction. Something to vent my anger to. I looked around, and noticed one of _them_ slowly walking about the halls. A couple more were behind it, but I didn't care. All I cared about was beating the fuck out of guy in front of me.

The bastard managed to catch sight, or sound of me, and turned to face me, its arms outstretched trying to get me. I readied my bat, as I felt myself tense up.

I picked up my pace and rushed towards the thing, just suppressing my urge to just shout out some war cry as I took my first swing at the monster.

I didn't bother closing my eyes or anything, I wanted to see the fucker crumple to the ground. And that one swing was all it took. Bastard almost flew a couple feet, with a mangled little bunch of skin where its face used to be.

And damn it, it felt good. I looked around me, seeing more of the undead just pacing back and forth, paying no heed towards their recently fallen comrade. That's when I noticed another one of _them _walking by, though he seemed oblivious to me. Still, the guy was a bit _too _close for comfort.

Good. Looked like somebody else needs their ass whooped.

I senselessly walk up to the thing and beat it into submission with my bat, before it could even react.

As I went to town, I thought I heard a girl's voice, though I simply dismissed it as me just hearing things. The main sound echoing in my head was just the sound of the baseball bat in my hands, repeatedly smashing into the monster's skull. It's like this poor bastard's brain was a stress toy for me.

After a while, I started to lose some steam, as I was able to think a bit more rationally. And I felt like every time I was beating a zombie to death, I was just reliving the part when Morita got attacked. And how angry I felt, and... how... how emotional, I was admittedly getting. These last two guys I killed were just... so much like all of that.

I took a moment to take a few steps back from the dead zombie, leaning up against a wall and breathing heavily. I glanced around, seeing more of _them _still walking around the premises.

God damn, I was growing mad over this...

And in all honesty, I'm wondering how I'm maintaining my sanity, even _with _the hopes of getting to Fumiko in time... I'm pretty sure 90% of the human race wouldn't be sane if they witnessed all this shit. What the hell made me so special?

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard that voice again, though now I definitely knew it wasn't just in my head. It was a scream, a _girl's_ scream, and it echoed in the halls. My eyes quickly darted up, as I looked back towards the stairwell that I was walking on not too long ago.

"That sounded like it came from the third floor... Wait, the third floor? Shit!"

I finally put two and two together and I came to idea that the voice upstairs _had _to be Fumiko! I... I was losing hope, but now I've got that feeling that there was something to look towards in this shitty insanity.

Ignoring the groups of _them _around me, I rushed back towards the stairwell and ran as fast as I could, my bloody bat tightly gripped into my hands.

I eventually made it to the third floor, with its current state not looking any better than any other part of Fujimi Academy. Bodies, blood-spattered walls, and the like... to be honest, I felt like I've already seen the worst of it, so it didn't bother me... _as much_.

The girl's screams echoed throughout the halls again, and I instantly turned on my heel towards the source of the sound. Sure enough, I see a small group of _them _starting to head that way too.

I uttered every curse and swear word in my vocabulary, as I rushed to try and save her before it was too late. My hopes were still held up that this was Fumiko I was saving, but... even if it wasn't, the thought of proceeding alone was just something that felt a bit unbearable.

I swing my bat over and over at the nearest one of _them _that got in my way. Honestly, my strength was waning, but determination can really get you far in some cases. I was still able to bash their fucking skulls in without too much problem.

As I kept swinging... I was really _unnerved _at how..._ easy _it was starting to get. I mean... I was sure as getting hell tired, since I was still pretty much been batting a thousand, but I would've assumed killing another person would be much... harder. Even if the things I'm killing can't really be called "people" anymore.

"Fuck, what am I, a mass-murderer now...?" I said to myself. "No, I'm saving someone's fucking life. I should be a damn hero for this..."

I cleared what zombies were in my way, and the coast looked clear towards the girl. From a distance, I could tell that she had some light-orangish hair... She definitely was _not _Fumiko. At that moment, I felt disheartened that she wasn't who I thought she was, as I felt like a bunch of my energy and encouragement came from just the thought that it might've been her... but seeing her, even just her cowering in the corner, didn't really... invigorate me as much as thinking it was Fumiko had.

Still, I noticed that another one of _them _was approaching her, and I felt that I still needed to help her out of whatever goodness in my heart. I wasn't gonna let a lady die, not if I would be able to save her right in front of me. Dashing to her, I saw she was balled up in the corner, with the zombie's decaying, imposing form towering over her. She yelped out another shriek, and when I got close enough, I started to swing my bat.

That's when the zombie stopped going after the girl and turned to me. The bastard turned his head, probably hearing my running towards it. It saw my back incoming for its head.

The thing raised up an arm, and caught my bat mid-swing with its hand.

I looked at it, bewildered it was even able to react that fast, and was still strong enough to stop a swinging bat with his hand.

Shit.

The bastard literally took the bat out of my hands, and tossed it aside. He placed both his hands on my shoulders, and reeled me in for me to get finished. My heart was beating so fucking hard in my ribcage, I felt like I was gonna die just from a heart-attack alone. I saw the thing open his mouth, much wider than any human being would be capable of.

I looked down, unable to look at the bastard as he would seal my fate.

That's when I heard a hard clunk. I noticed the guy was trying to take a bite out of my head... And holy shit, was I ever so lucky I chose to wear that batting helmet when I found it in my room. But he was biting down on it. And _hard_. I could practically feel his teeth poking through and touching the tips of my hairs.

Despite how scared shitless I was, I wasn't about to waste an opportunity to keep my life. With a heavy kick, I pushed the bastard away from me, losing its grip it held on my shoulders, as it stumbled back a few steps. The batting helmet was still on his mouth, his teeth obviously embedded deep in there. I picked up my bat from off the ground, and went to this last zombie I needed to take down. Not out of righteousness, protectiveness for that girl, or simply to be a badass, I struck that thing down... for making me _so _damn scared...

My first strike with my bat knocked its teeth, and my helmet, out from its mouth. Then I proceeded to make sure the only thing holding his skull together would be a loose cover of skin.

I felt myself give into my anger again, and this time, I wasn't just relieving my stress; I struck hard because he was the _center _of my stress right now.

After a couple hits, the zombie was a bit limp, though he was still leaning towards me. I couldn't tell whether or not he was already dead, and just falling forward, or if he was trying one last time to take me out. It didn't matter to me. With the last remaining bit of my adrenaline-fueled strength, I closed my eyes as I took my bat and smacked the monster's head.

When I opened them up, I found one dead zombie, one half of my bat on the ground, and the other half of my bat still in my hand, holding not much more than just a handle.

I tossed the thing aside. I didn't have any use for it any more. Frankly, that bat served me more this one day than any other bat has ever done in the Tokonosu Series. For that, I was thankful it managed to last as long as it did.

Glancing over, I could still see that the girl over in her corner, still on the ground almost pathetically. But hell, I didn't expect her to show much bravery. I sure as hell wouldn't, really. More or less, most of _them _that I killed, were out of necessity, and because they were in my way.

Except for Morita's case. God, I'm damn lucky that me saving someone didn't end up like his scenario.

Walking up towards the girl, I offered her a hand to get up. Her face was hidden, though all I could see was her light orange hair.

I noticed the girl looking up at me. That's when I instinctively retracted my hand. I was honestly... not expecting _her _to be alive of all people. And... I couldn't tell whether or not it was worth all that trouble saving her. Honestly... I felt quite torn at that moment.

"Yuuki..."

The proclaimed 'hottest girl in school', according to Morita, a girl of infamous intrigue, and probably most important of all, my ex-lover: Yuuki Miku.

The look on her face was probably as conflicted as mine... Amazed, distraught, annoyed... in particular, I could see that she almost looked sort of angry, though for what reason, I couldn't tell.

"Toshio..." she softly uttered back.

She got up from her almost fetal position on the ground, and went over towards the zombie that was attacking her earlier, the one that attacked me and almost took a chunk out of my damn head.

She knelt down, stroking her hand through its bloodied hair, almost looking like she was holding back tears.

"He... he was my boyfriend, you _asshole_!"

She had to be kidding me. I didn't have time for this bullshit. I grabbed her by the arm and hoisted up her to my eye level.

"Enough of this! I just saved your damn life, and this is the thanks I get? And stop moping over your boyfriend! He turned into one of _them_, and even then, you've still got ten more!"

She quickly wriggled her arm out of my grasp, and the next thing I felt was this sharp pain impact my cheek. I stumbled back some, once again trying to figure out what hit me. Only this time, once I managed to compose myself and try to nurse my pain, I'm pretty sure I had a good idea.

Miku's face was red hot, practically seething with anger over her apparently recently deceased boyfriend.

"That isn't god damn funny, Toshio! He... he was _different_! I actually loved him!" she managed to spout out.

"Funny, I think I recall you saying the same thing about me when we were dating."

By the time I said that, my back was already turned to her. I didn't see her reaction, though I could imagine she was fuming by now.

That's what I at least thought, until I felt a hand gently placing itself on my shoulder.

"Jealous, are we?" she muttered.

I quickly shrugged her off, still not bothering to face her. Nonetheless, I could already imagine the preconception of an annoyed expression already turning into something coy, suggestive, and pretty damn smug. And it started to get _me _annoyed.

"It's amazing how much of a whore you can be, even with everyone around us dying and whatnot..."

I didn't get any audible response from her, but that was fine with me. I started to pick up my pace as I headed towards the exit towards the walkway. But as I progressed faster, I was almost amazed at how... how exhausting it felt, just to walk.

Damn it, now I regret my impulsiveness... by using up my energy killing all the zombies that got in my way, I've tuckered myself up... all I could do at the moment was sigh and continue trudging on...

"Hey, wait for me!"

I looked behind me to see Yuuki, although her face didn't look at all coy, suggestive, or really pissed off. And in my personal history with her, that was _saying something. _She actually looked like she had genuine concern this time.

"You have a plan? I mean, you're heading _somewhere_, aren't you?" she asked.

I glanced back towards the doors to the walkway, before nodding to her.

"There's supposedly a 'class' of people over on the third floor of the lecture hall. A couple of guys pretty much barred all the doorways there, except for the walkway entrance. I was trying to head there myself..."

It wouldn't at all be a long walk, but for these few moments... even if Miku was a complete skank, she was... company. And being alone in this apocalypse was already shaping up to be one of my worst fears. I know that I think over to myself that it would've been alright to leave her to die. But all the same, I couldn't shake the feeling that I might thank myself in the long run, that I managed to actually save someone's life. So I'd tolerate her, for now.

"Let's go," I said begrudgingly.

Miku silently nodded her head as she followed in my stead.

We exited doors into the walkway, which overlooked the campus. I didn't bother to look, though I could imagine Yuuki was just gaping at whatever horrors awaited in the outside.

Why did I save her again? I mean, aside from company? I could've lasted a bit longer without someone, anyway... Because I have morals? Bah, that feels hypocritical. I wanted to leave Takeda to die, and he ended up killing Morita. I'm amazed that I didn't fall under the unfortunate "no good deed goes unpunished" sort of deal, especially with witnessing such a scenario earlier.

In hindsight, perhaps my reasoning is rather selfish: I thought her screams were Fumiko's and I reacted. Bah, it doesn't matter. I saved Yuuki in any case, and now I have to get to this class sanctuary or whatever. In all honesty, I felt like I shouldn't have had too much high hopes for this encounter...

I knocked on the doors a couple times, before pushing them open. I felt more relieved than I ever had that whole day, when I realized that the doors weren't barred shut, or locked, or anything.

Entering the lecture hall, finally, the first thing I noticed was a young man by the stairwell barricade, obviously one of the guys that I talked to earlier when I was on the other side of it. He beating one of _them _to death on the ground with a crowbar, repeatedly chanting the phrase _"Die, die, die!" _over and over again. I recalled hearing two guys when I was with Morita earlier, but then I noticed a couple of corpses littering the grounds. But only a _couple_. The third floor looked like it was in relatively better shape than any of the other halls and floors that I was on earlier.

I took a closer look at the stab-happy guy, and noticed his long and dark locks of hair. I wanted to assume that this guy was Kurokami then.

Still a bit tired, even from just walking, I hobbled over towards where the black-haired guy was killing _them._

"Hey, are you Kurokami?"

He looked over his shoulder, giving his crowbar swinging a rest. His eyes looked awfully wide, with his pupils somewhat dilated a bit more than normal, giving him this weirdly deranged look.

"Y-yeah, I am... Oh, hey, I guess you made it, huh? I... I knew you would... oh, and who's that with you?" he asked, taking a glance at Miku. "Oh, hey Miku... good to see you again... You weren't in Mr. Shido's class this morning... skipped class again, eh? Hehe..."

I looked over at Miku, who looked somewhat nervously, though verily unamused with Kurokami.

"I was with my boyfriend... he's dead now, thanks to Ozaki over here."

I frowned as Yuuki continued to badmouth me, but I still noticed that Kurokami nodded his head slightly, a somewhat apologetic expression on his face.

"Oh, yeah... well, sorry to hear that."

His 'sincerity' though, was questionable. He acted sort of casual, and expressed as much sorrow for her dead boyfriend as much as one might feel sorrow for a friend failing a quiz. And... well, he acted a hell of a lot more calm now, since he was done inflicting pain on a zombie, though his eyes were still... odd-looking, only offset by some locks of dark hair getting in the way of his face, so I couldn't exactly read his emotions too wwell.

However, that's when something he said dawned upon me.

"Wait, Mr. Shido? Is he still alive?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah... Shido's alive... he damn near saved a bunch of lives, but a bunch more were a bit more daring to leave this floor, and ended up getting killed over it..."

I couldn't really believe it. I walked on over towards the place were class 3-A usually is. And sure enough, I saw him. I saw Mr. Shido, and a bunch of other students sitting in their desks. In fact, it almost looked... too good to be true, due to the fact that I could even see Shido talking and lecturing the students in class, as if teaching them and nothing ever went wrong. How he was even able to contain all these people and keep them alive, was beyond me.

I saw Kurokami go up to the door, then bang his fist on it repeatedly.

"Shido-sensei, Shido-sensei! Open up, will ya? It's me, Kurokami! I've got a couple of survivors over here!"

I could see Shido from outside the class's hallway windows, and he looked somewhat irked by Kurokami's interruptions. He then gestured for a couple of guys to open the doors, which I could see were actually _boarded up_. Did he plan on just leaving Kurokami and whoever else was with him to just... die, or something?

As Kurokami welcomed himself inside the classroom, Yuuki and I followed behind him.

"Kurokami-san... I thought that I told you and-"

"R-Rokuro's dead, man! H-he ran into one of those... those creatures, then he got bit, and I had to put them both out of their misery!" he quickly sputtered out, quite frantically. He then quickly glanced over at me and Yuuki, pointing fingers at us. "But those two... I figured that we could trust 'em, you know? Miku's been a classmate of ours, and this guy, Ozaki... I've heard a couple things about him, he seems alright..."

I paused to consider just what kind of things Kurokami had heard... I didn't really have time though... I mean... I was feeling so tired from wasting my energy killing all of those zombies. I was still able to noticed Mr. Shido walk from the chalkboard over towards where we were.

Then the teacher started clapping his hands of all things. And a bit of a smile was on his face. His stern expression soon changed into something that was thankfully a bit more welcome.

"Ah... Yuuki Miku, and... Toshio Ozaki. Good of you to join us. Normally, I would not be letting people into this classroom unless I was certain of their affirmations to loyalty. Those who chose to leave this classroom, not abiding by my suggestions, ultimately sealed their fate in this world..." he began.

He walked over, and stroked some stray strands of hair off of Yuuki's head. Unsurprisingly, she kinda looked like she melted like putty, charmed by the touch of her teacher... which was kinda awkward, because she often did that when any guy touched her. But _Mr. Shido_? That was... a bit odd.

"However, I know that Miku-san, as a student of mine, would dutifully listen to what I have to say, hmm? As such I'm sure I can count on your cooperation, can I?"

Yuuki looked somewhat surprised, but nodded her head rather enthusiastically. With a satisfied smile, Mr. Shido turned his head to me.

"And you, Ozaki-san... I can tell, you're certainly one of the few strong ones able to survive in this dangerous new world. And I've heard nothing but good things about you as well... I would certainly welcome your company, if you choose to accept ours."

I started to feel a bit lightheaded, as I looked up at Mr. Shido. I suddenly started to feel like I was losing my footing.

"Who's saying stuff about me to you guys?" I asked. I felt my sweat coming down my brow, almost feeling like I was gonna pass out.

"Shio-kun!"

I felt weary enough to just collapse. But when heard a feminine voice call out my nickname, I felt like it was the most angelic voice I could've heard at that time.

I fell on my knees, and saw a beautiful, bespectacled blue-eyed girl. She put her hands on my shoulders as she tried shaking me.

"Miko-chan..." I replied back.

I felt my body go limp, and I slowly closed my eyes, finally feeling satisfied that my immediate goal had finally been accomplished. I could still hear the voices talking, as I blacked out...

"Shio-kun, Shio-kun! Are you alright? Is he hurt?"

"Eh, Ozaki looked tired enough when he found me. Poor guy looked exhausted."

"He's not bitten, is he?"

"No, he's not bleeding or anything... none of that blood on him is his, anyway..."

"Miku-san. Kawamura-san. I would recommend leaving him alone, for right now. He's undoubtedly gone through a lot. He needs his rest."

Yeah... rest sounded... welcome...

* * *

><p><em>As my grip on my sense just blacked out, my subconscious eventually just... went through events, I found myself back home. I was getting ready for school, as I gathered my things and got dressed. When I straightened my hair, I found a sorta bratty-looking 12 year old kid looking back at me. I shrugged when my comb did me no avail, so I just adjusted my hair with my fingers. It worked just as well, anyway. <em>

_As I went downstairs, I caught my parents entangled in another argument, this time complaining about Dad and getting 'laid off', whatever that meant. Mom usually said it was just "adult business." I hope I didn't get a job that caused so much arguing when I grew up. But I didn't worry too much, though. I bet Baseball pros live good lives, and make lots of money, so I didn't think that I'd be complaining too much when I grew up._

_I walked past my parents, not really paying attention to whatever bad words my mom said to my dad. This was normal, really. Heading out the door, I walked over towards the bus stop that would take me to Junior Highschool. Not too far away, I found my neighbor friend. She had loose black hair, blue eyes, and a pair of glasses, which she kinda got a reputation around school for wearing. Sorta like her trademark... She was already living next to me for a few years, and she was fun to hang around._

_"Miko-chan!" I cried out, happily._

_Her face scrunched up, telling me she wasn't too happy with her nickname. Her reaction was kinda funny though._

_"It's supposed to be __**Fumiko**__, Toshio..."_

_"Yeah, yeah..." I said waving my hand dismissively. "Whatever you say, Empress..."_

_Admittedly, it was fun to tease her sometimes..._

_The day went on by pretty fast... The teachers taught their lessons and stuff, but admittedly, their lessons did seem a bit slurred, and hard for me to pay attention to. I dunno whether or not it was because of how fast time was going, if this was just me not paying attention again. When I was in class and lunch was called, I went to the cafeteria and saw Miko-chan crying in her seat. Normally, she was sitting with her friends, but... she wasn't sitting with them, this time._

_"What's wrong?" I asked._

_Miko took a moment to stop crying, as she looked up. That's when I noticed her glass lenses were cracked in several areas. I looked back at her, somewhat bewildered, as she adjusted the broken specs on her face. _

_"I don't want to talk about it..." she said, avoiding eye contact. I quickly grabbed her on the shoulder and shook her a bit, trying to get her attention._

_"Look, you can tell me, Fumiko. What happened? Who did this to you?"_

_She looked around, kinda nervously. _

_"Saburo made fun of me again. He and those other boys were messing with me and my friends... Momo got her notebook taken from her... and Asuka actually fought back, but she ended up getting hurt... she's too embarassed to talk about how she let a boy beat her up though. As for me..." she said, gesturing towards her glasses. "I think you can put two and two together."_

_Somehow, I wasn't too surprised. Saburo was just some punk who led a group of guys in there gang. They all thought they were cool and stuff, but now I felt like I needed to send some message. I patted Fumiko on the back and left her without saying a word. _

_I quickly found Saburo out in the courtyard, playing basketball with his "gang." _

_I didn't bother throwing out any sort of accusation or calling out him and his friends, I knew I just had to take matters in my own hands. _

_So like the tough-guy I was, I went over to Saburo while he was distracted by his basketball game, and socked him so hard in the face, teeth might as well have flown out. I managed to knock him down to the ground, grabbing the attention of everyone around me. I didn't care though, he hurt Fumiko; that's why I kicked the snot out of him while he was on the ground. Unfortunately, I could feel someone restraining me. Turns out his friends weren't a bunch of wimps, and grabbed my arms to make sure I couldn't hit anyone anymore. Saburo was still in pain on the ground, but his friends started taking turns punching and kicking me in the stomach while I was helpless. _

_Normally, I would've cried when I got hurt that badly... but not this time. I wouldn't let this gang have the satisfaction of seeing that._

_Anyway, the teachers went in and broke everything up, but since everyone saw that I was the guy who threw the first punch, I still technically got in as much trouble as Saburo's gang. It ticked me off that the guy himself got off without punishment, but at least I sent him a message. Hopefully, he'll be able to leave people alone, before someone stands up to him again. _

_Later that day, the deans told me they called my parents about the incident, so I admit, I wasn't really to face them. But when I got on the bus on the way home, a friend of mine was able to alleviate that worry._

_"So... I heard you beat up Saburo today..." _

_I smiled abck at Miko-chan, who decided to sit next to me on the bus for a change._

_"Yep... and don't worry, Miko-chan. I'll make sure no punk ever hurts you again. They'll have to get through me, first." _

_"Thanks... Shio-kun..."_

_"What, I have to have a nickname too?" I whined back._

_She smiled in response, and we laughed the trip away, until we had to go our separate ways to our neighboring houses._

_Time just... flew on by, after that. It just... past me. Like... Everything seemed to be happening so fast, and I was only able to grasp just a few highlights of my life during the jump, from my parents scolding me for beating up Saburo, to Fumiko and I graduating junior high, her family moving away from my neighborhood, the pain I felt in her absence, my parents divorcing, Dad sending me off to boarding school, Miko-chan and I reuiniting... it all felt so surreal, and... and... _

_Next thing I knew, I found myself near the end of my first year in Fujimi Academy... I was 16, with my 17th birthday just right around the corner. _

_I was in my baseball uniform, carrying a wooden bat that definitely looked like it seen better days. I saw that people in the same uniform were cursing and spitting off at each other, and the air was very tense around me and my friends. I looked up, and then remembered why. It was the final game, the Tokonosu Series, where my baseball season ended... in rather lackluster fashion. _

_I wasn't team captain, but I was still one hell of a ball-player. And everyone knew it. But... well, I guess some people that I was a bit too cocky. Everyone knew of my aspirations to go pro in Japan one day. What pissed me off, was that guys often downplayed my enthusiasms in the game as cockiness. What? A guy can dream, can't he?_

_Assholes._

_Unfortunately, the coaches, the team players... they didn't look too kindly on this "cockiness." So they decided through a bunch of manipulation or some shit, to convince me that if I screwed up this final game, my chances at the big leagues would be through. _

_Maybe I was cocky enough to actually believe that, and think that nothing at all would go wrong._

_I want to admit, that the guys on the other team, from Nakamura Academy, played pretty hard out there. And granted, through the game, I was able to score three home runs. Hell of a lot better than everyone else. In the end though, my team wasn't so competent at hitting homeruns, and I conversely was having a struggle here and there catching any stray fly balls. In the end, Fujimi Academy lost to the Nakamura guys, 6 to 9. _

_And every player on my team was fucking __**pissed**__. It was... kinda sad, really. Most of the team kept casting blame one person or the other. When someone tried accusing me of being the reason we lost, I argued that I carried the team as far we went, with me scoring half the points we did. But... well, I'm the shortstop, and a couple people got pissed off at me for dropping a couple important catches. After all, I'm essentially supposed to be one of the most dynamic defenses in a baseball team... and I didn't deliver this time around. Honestly, I couldn't defend myself, because I felt inclined to agree that I played sub-par this game._

_I left the dugout, trying to just contemplate to myself. And after those god damn vultures were done picking at me, they went back to bickering at each other. It disgusted me, but their points about me had been made, and they certainly struck me hard._

_"Um... Shio-kun...?" _

_I looked around me for the person who said that, until my eyes fell upon not a girl this time, but a young woman, standing right at the front row of the stands, in plain view. Her hair was tied in a couple of braids this year, but her glasses were those things that instantly made her recognizable. It made her all the more charming, too._

_"Miko-chan..."_

_By now in these years, Fumiko had already gotten used to the nickname, and really, she conversely got used to calling me by the nickname she made up for me almost five years ago. Ever since I "protected" her from those bullies, we kinda just grew gradually closer together, up until she graduated junior high and her family moved away. We were separated for a whole summer, and I kinda was surprised at how... boring it all felt. I myself didn't hang around too many other people. I know it was just a few months of separation... but that still didn't really make it any less of a major change in my life. At least by the time first-year of Fujimi Academy came along, it was a happy coincidence we were back together. Though, she'd sorta drifted away from me, understandably. I mean, she was able to bond with her girl-friends, whom she actually hangs out with more than me nowadays. So, my "protection" has... lost some of its charm admittedly. Still, we were so happy to finally be together again, and are still good friends._

_Anyway, Fumiko hopped down from the audience stands and joined me down on the field. I gazed over towards my team, who managed to calm down, though in turn was being scolded by one of the coaches now for all the hostility. It was almost sorta funny, and ironic to watch. But for now, that wasn't important. What was, was my wonderful friend standing next to me._

_"Hey, it's a bummer you didn't win, but... you did good out there, Toshio." _

_"Yeah, but I messed up a couple times on the most god damn important game of the season, and now my team hates me for it."_

_Fumiko looked at me gently placing a delicate hand on my shoulder._

_"Forget them. It doesn't matter if what they say, or if you screwed up once or twice. There's no denying you're still a great baseball player, Shio-kun."_

_I looked away from her, back at my team. Then I sorta looked down at the ground, sorta pathetically. _

_"Bah, the bastards got it in my head that if I didn't play good today in the final game, that I wouldn't become a pro player any time soon... maybe I was crazy enough to actually believe them. So much for being a superstar..."_

_Her grip on my shoulder tightened, as she turned me over to face her. I looked up from the ground and into her eyes... _

_In all honesty, I noticed it around the time she and I were reunited at Fujimi Academy, but... if, in all bluntness, I guess I just have to say that as the years went on by... Fumiko kinda looked hotter, and... I'll admit, I was sorta embarrassed about it. _

_But during that moment, she just looked so confident, so sure of herself, so... well, alluring. _

_"Who cares what they say. You'll still be __**my**__ superstar, Toshio."_

_I didn't exactly know how to react to that. But she reacted before I could. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a comforting hug... And... really, in that one moment, I felt that the loss of this game was worth it, just for this. I wrapped my own arms around her, as we stayed in an embrace._

_Her hair was all in my face and... and I actually had the nerve to just take in her scent... I mean, in all frankness, I couldn't smell anything more than just her shampoo, but beyond that... just something about her mere scent was so... satisfying..._

_God... I kept asking myself if during that one moment, I was a freak. I still don't know how to answer that._

_Eventually, I could hear some suggestive comments off in the distance coming from my team, as they saw Fumiko and I hugging. We separated shortly after that, and I feel as though it may or may not have been cut off prematurely. And for that reason, I felt like I was ready to kick some ass. But I looked back the team, and back at Fumiko... Her presence alone was enough to calm me down. _

_"Well, I guess I'll just see you around tomorrow, same as usual?" _

_I looked back in her eyes. I could see the innocence that she always had, like when we were kids, but... well, now I couldn't really look at that innocence the same way anymore. I couldn't look at anything about her the same way anymore. And a simple off-handed phrase 'same as usual' kinda sent me... mixed messages. I wouldn't rule out that she was oblivious to how... affectionate that hug was, and it was with nothing but good intentions, though I can't help but also think of a what-if... Damn it, does puberty ruin your perceptions and views of everything?_

_"Shio-kun, you alright?"_

_I glanced back at her and nodded my head. Maybe things couldn't be the same, ever again. And for better or worse, at that moment... maybe I felt like that was alright._

_"Yeah, I'm fine Miko-chan..."_

_"Shio-kun?"_

_This time, when I heard her say my nickname, I was a bit puzzled when I heard it in her voice, but her mouth didn't move. Rather... it was like she was calling me in my head or something... Then the voice repeated herself in echoes, saying my name... At first it felt like this big, headache-inducing sensation... like someone was ringing a gong to my head. Before I knew it, I was starting to lose my senses here in the baseball field... I started sensing outside disturbances, and... _

_I could finally feel these memories coming to a close._

_"Shio-kun? Shio-kun, wake up!" _

_And so I did... I woke up from the beauties of dreaming..._

* * *

><p>...to go back, and brave the nightmares of reality.<p> 


	4. A Haven in a Heartless World

_Act 4: A Haven in a Heartless World_

I woke up, practically gasping for breath. I don't ever recall getting out of bed so… violently. I found myself flailing my limbs around before any of my senses could kick in and calm me down. All I heard was Fumiko's voice… and all I saw were the old memories we had of better times. But the last subconscious thing I remember seeing before I woke myself up was… that dead girl. The first one of _them _that I encountered, as Morita and I left my dorm room, still blissfully unaware of what the hell was going on, as the world around us burned.

It turned from pleasant dreams of the past, to a horrifying nightmare in an instant.

When I opened up my eyes, I found myself pleasantly surprised to see that there weren't any of _them _surrounding me. But rather, the first thing I saw was someone that I felt like could've made everything better for me.

I didn't even get the chance to greet her though. She quickly wrapped her arms around me, almost crying… I couldn't tell if she was crying tears of joy for finally seeing me awake, tears of worry, or whatever.

"Shio-kun, Shio-kun! I'm so glad you're okay… I didn't expect to see you again, and I… I…"

Fumiko started stuttering out incomprehensible things about her being so worried or afraid about being alone or something… but the message she sent to me was clear. She was happy I there with her. And the feeling was completely mutual for me to be next to her.

At first, I almost felt like everything that had happened, with me in this zombie apocalypse, Morita dying, the whole world going to hell, I thought it was all just… a really bad nightmare. And none of it really happened. That's how good it felt to for me to be around her.

Of course reality had to hit me sooner or later. I started to look around my surroundings, and it was obvious to me that I simply didn't fall asleep in class again. There were only seven other people in the classroom, including Fumiko and Mr. Shido. Everyone looked paranoid, nervous, panicked… any of those negative emotions all balled up. And some of them were either suppressing their emotions, and others were making it pretty obvious about how unhinged they felt.

I sat up from the… floor, apparently, and got up on my own two feet. I noticed my sneakers were still stained in dried blood. My eyes opened up, extinguishing any drowsiness that was lingering; not really in surprise, but rather in disappointment.

I just needed to check one last thing. I got up from the ground, and lightly pushed Fumiko aside, as I silently approached the window.

And there it was. The world of Fujimi Academy and abroad was still in ruins, with hordes of _them _still plaguing the campus. My home... my _god damn _home in flames...

"Damn it… So, it was too good to be true, to think that this whole thing wasn't just some big nightmare."

"To the contrary. This _is _a nightmare, Ozaki-san. However, some nightmares do exist in reality. And we must attempt to adapt and make the best of such situations, no matter what."

I turned around and noticed Mr. Shido, his hands clasped together with a smile on his face. Under normal circumstances, it wasn't so surprising to see such a rather content expression on his face, but the fact he was still smiling right now lead to some interpretations as to whether he was insane or optimistic about something. Maybe there wasn't a big difference.

"First of all, we must continue to band together, and stay as a unified group. Among you, are those who I can be sure of my trust in you, and your trust in me. Those who did not have faith in my choices, lead to some unfortunate ends."

At first, when I heard that, it lead me to think of all sorts of weird conspiracies or something. He had a weird habit of… phrasing things oddly. Plus, he could unintentionally (or intentionally) be pretty fucking creepy sometimes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked suspiciously.

I saw the dark-haired guy, Kurokami, speak up in Shido's stead.

"When the guy on the announcements told us all that… well, everything was going to hell and then he died, Shido-sensei told us all to stay inside the class and await his instructions… well, most of the class just panicked and ignored him, and then they just ran out of the room like a bunch of maniacs. And… I'm pretty sure most of them are dead because of it."

I felt a hand gently placed on my shoulder, and when I looked to my side, I saw Fumiko, giving me a rather sincere look.

"Toshio… Shido-sensei is the reason why we're all alive. He managed to keep us all calm enough and stay in class, while everyone else outside just ran out and… and died. After everyone else evacuated, Sensei sent a few of the students to board up the stairwells and entrances to the third floor, to keep us safe and prevent more of those… monsters from entering the third floor."

As Fumiko relayed the situation to me… all made sense to me. At first, I thought whoever was the guy who boarded up the stairwell earlier was just… some asshole. But it turned out that Shido ordered those guys to do it to _protect_ everyone left in his class…

I immediately felt almost in awe of the guy. I knew he was a decent teacher, since I've had him a couple times and he didn't seem like a bad guy, but for him to _keep his cool_ and calmly elaborate some plan to keep everyone safe…? I only regretted that if more people actually listened to Shido, they'd be alive and safe right now…

"So you see Ozaki-san, your faith in me is of the utmost importance…" Mr. Shido continued. He glanced around at the rest of the class, addressing everyone. "For if we are to survive this New World, we must believe in each other and work together… Attempts at _selfishness_ will not do at all. _Weaknesses_ must be dealt with swiftly, lest we all be dragged down to suffer the same fate."

Most of us, including myself, looked on towards Mr. Shido in some sort of surprise. I personally was amazed at how much of an influential speaker he was. It was kinda well-known in Fujimi Academy that Mr. Shido was a very vocal Darwinist, but really, it's the first time I've ever heard his views applied in a very… practical setting such as this. And really, it all made sense. This harsh reality that he often told the students in his lessons… was coming to full-circle towards this real-life nightmare.

"So, I would ask of you: For those who will not follow in my stead, please leave this classroom now, and valiantly fend for yourself. For those who will have faith in my decisions and follow me, please stay with me, as we will all leave this place together momentarily. And I assure you: We will learn to survive and thrive in this harsh new world!"

I glanced around and saw that pretty much everyone was nodding their head, giving a cheer, or in general giving their approval towards Mr. Shido. Hell, it almost seemed suicide not to. And really, I'm proud to have stumbled upon this oasis in a dead world, to see these people unite under possibly one of the few guys who actually speaks with sensibility in this insane world. And he's the reason that Fumiko's actually _alive_ right now. If she has faith in him, then I should have no reason to either. So I went ahead and gave my own approval towards him too. However, as I glanced around the class, I could notice that there were a couple people though who looked kinda... unsure of themselves, and possibly a bit uneasy.

"Thrive?" a brown-haired guy asked. "How are we going to thrive in... in _this _kind of environment...? We've got hundreds of dead people all around us, and hundreds more are getting up on their feet killing people! Our friends, our teachers... everyone! Dead!"

The young man's sayings did start to get people a bit afraid again... Shido looked at the rather meek fellow, and approached him, the teacher's eyes giving him a rather piercing gaze.

"Well, Yamada-san... Mankind in any time and place in the world has been able to survive and thrive, despite the numerous insurmountable odds placed before them... Or they died trying... It is either the high road or the low road that awaits us now. What I _do_ know, is that if we refuse to go from the location we stay in now, we _will _die."

The Yamada guy looked a bit too shy or something to respond back, so I piped up and tried to speak for him.

"We'll follow you, Shido-sensei," I announced. Yamada looked at me, almost shocked, but he looked back at Shido and nodded his head. And really, I spoke for everyone, not just him. Most of the others I spoke for around the class also agreed with me.

"Hey, listen," one of the students interrupted. I didn't know his name, though he had this dyed blonde hair on his head, and he looked a bit older than some of us, so I guessed he was a third-year. "This whole loyalty thing is good and all, but do you actually have a _plan,_ Shido?"

Mr. Shido looked at the guy, his smiling face slightly changing into something reminiscent of a frown. The teacher calmly walked over towards the window, and looked out in the distance. Something he saw clearly pleased him, as his smile slowly returned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe we have found our salvation."

Shido gestured off towards some direction for all of us to see. As we all huddled up to the window to see what he was looking at, we all stared in surprise and hope. We saw a rather sizeable group of students all fighting off hordes of _them_, while heading towards one of the minibuses in the parking lot. Hell, it even looked like most of the god damn things from all over campus were converging there. For me personally, it felt inspiring that I wasn't the only one who was managing to kick some ass out there and be successful in it… Hope was waning though. They were likely rushing at their destination, so I'm pretty sure it sent a message to all of us that we didn't have time to procrastinate. I could imagine they wouldn't want to wait long, if at all, for some other survivors like us.

"Well then, it seems as though we don't have much time left. Further bickering will not get us anywhere. I suggest we take our leave of this place. _Now._"

We didn't need any other inspiration from Mr. Shido. All of us looked at each other, and knew we'd probably need to stick together if we were to make it out of this ordeal alive.

When I saw that one of the students, that dark-haired guy, scrambled out and made a dash, Shido quickly ran out of the classroom behind him. Miku, Yamada, and a couple of the others started to make their own run out the door as well. Obviously, we weren't gonna take the orderly, calm way out. I myself ran out of the classroom too, with Fumiko and a couple of the others following behind me. I looked forward and saw that everyone was exiting through the walkway back towards the administration building. It looked like we were all going down the route that I used to get to the up to the third floor in the first place.

I prayed we didn't run into too many of _them_. I wasn't even armed this time, so I had nothing to defend myself with. When I ran through the third floor of the admin building, I already saw that one of the guys who ran ahead was getting attacked by a few of those things. Shido, Kurokami, and hell, not even Fumiko paid any attention to the poor bastard as we all kept running. Frankly, I already knew his fate was sealed, and everybody else did too, so we all unfortunately just left him to die. Yeah, it was fucked up, but… did we have a choice? If I still had my bat, I'd probably do something… but even though I saw him dying for only a few split-seconds, the image he left in my head made realize just how… how fucking _powerless_ I felt… I glanced to the side and saw that Fumiko herself was trailing behind me. We were all running like hell, but I prayed that that'd be enough to manage to live another day.

The second and first floors didn't pose any further problems for us, thankfully. As we traveled down through the stairs, we noticed that there were several of those corpses lying around, motionless. And they definitely weren't human… most of them, anyway. I silently thanked the group who was heading towards the buses, since they managed to clear a path for us. Obviously, it looked like simply saying that they could kick some ass was an understatement.

As we managed to get out of the admin building, we didn't meet any other setbacks, save for that one guy. The only obstacles that were in our way now were time, and the hordes of _them_ wandering around. We all make a mad dash towards the buses, hoping those guys ahead of us would be compassionate enough to let us through.

I could see in the distance that one of the guys on the bus was about to close the door, when he noticed all of us running for help. Mr. Shido noticed this too, as he tried to encourage us all to try and make a break for the bus.

"Everyone! Hurry! I guarantee you'll make it out alive!"

I didn't bother to question how absurd that statement was, I was still too busy running like hell. Eventually, when me and some of the others managed to get on the bus, a couple of the people on the bus helped us up, as we scrambled for the seats.

I ran towards one of the seats, it didn't matter where... I scrambled towards a seat near the back, and just sat down, as my heart started beating like crazy. My eyes were rather wide, and I was out of breath yet again. But, now that I was in this bus... I felt like I could unwind a little. Danger was lurking just outside, but I just wanted to take a moment to just calm myself down. I didn't count on us even making it to the bus, but here we were... I looked towards the front and noticed a few people still helping the other survivors from Shido's class make it to the seats. Among them, I saw a couple of familiar faces.

I noticed that one of the people helping us out was Busujima, Fujimi Academy's renowned kendo club champion... thank God she was here with us... I couldn't imagine anyone else more able to kick some ass in this apocalypse than her. The other guy, to my surprise, was Komuro, Morita's friend who I met with a couple times. I doubt he'd really remember me though... Lately, Morita told me he had been having some relationship problems...

God, that conversation I had with Morita just seemed like it took place... ages ago... when really, it was only a few hours ago... To think it's gotten this bad this fast is just... surreal...

I noticed that once Shido was on the bus, pretty much all of us were on... I took count though, and realized that we must've lost another guy on the way here...

Poor bastard. I didn't think much of him though. As Mr. Shido walked past me to take a seat, I glanced over and saw Fumiko sitting on a bus seat, and for me, I felt content enough with her being alive. To my surprise, I saw her sitting next to one of her best friends, a redheaded girl named Momo...

Momo's been this girl who's known Fumiko _almost_ as long as I have... the two have known each other since Junior High, and she was among the girls who sorta ended up... replacing me? Ever since High School, Fumiko was often more consoled by her circle of girl friends than me. Still, that aside, I kinda broke out a smile seeing Fumiko being happy to see another friendly face survive. Frankly, the more people that were our friends, the better. It'd undoubtedly make life easier for all of us in the future... then again, what kind of future was ahead of us?

So as the two were hugging each other, and babbling on about them being so damn happy to see each other, I looked forward and noticed the school's nurse driving the bus. Whether or not I knew everyone around me on this bus personally, or just by face or name, it felt so surprising and encouraging to see a bunch of these people still alive within all this conflict.

When everyone was on, one of the guys up front signaled the nurse that it was time to go. I felt the bus starting to pick up speed as it accelerated, the engine's rumbling being one of the most welcome sounds I could've heard today.

Soon enough, we were already pulling out of the parking lot, bidding farewell to Fujimi Academy behind us... The school nurse was really hitting the petal now, as she sped up even more, taking a bunch of sharp turns here and there, the bust practically swerving. Under normal circumstances, it would be enough to vomit, but after seeing what I saw back in my travels... it kinda raised the bar on what really is worth puking over...

The bus's speed was still rising, pretty much almost to its limit; even faster than what I'd normally expect a vehicle like this could go. The ride was starting to become a hell of a lot bumpier... the campus' pavement was supposed to be smooth, so I could only imagine what the hell we were hitting beneath us.

The blood staining some of the god damn windows by now didn't leave much room for imagination.

I could hear some people up near the front of the bus calling out some things. When I looked off into the distance, I could see that the school gates were zooming in. A pity this bus didn't have passenger seatbelts...

With a forceful collision, the bus rammed straight through the front gates, and I swore to god that the thing got some air, before it landed back on its four wheels, rocking a bit. A bunch of us were probably scared shitless as to whether or not the bus would tip over. But god damn, who would've thought that the nurse was one hell of a driver?

The bus maintained its speed, but it was going on a straightforward course, so it was a hell of a lot less nauseating. A bunch of us took the opportunity to just take a breather... Me, Shido, and the rest of his class undoubtedly went through a bunch of tough shit... The group who was with Komuro and Busujima were also undoubtedly weary from all the weird fucking things going on.

I looked over and saw Mr. Shido walking past me, as he went up towards Busujima-senpai, the usual grin on his face.

"Thank you for saving us... are you the leader, Busujima-san?" he asked.

Seemed pretty damn logical. She was probably the oldest of all us students present, and she probably kicked the most ass given her Kendo skills.

"We are without one," she cooly replied back, as she wiped the blood off her bokken. "Our survival is simply the product of our teamwork."

Mr. Shido raised a brow slightly, before leaning slightly closer towards the third-year.

"Well, that's no good... a leader is required in order for us to survive. One who manages everything."

By now, his talk had garnered the attention of almost everyone on the bus, including myself, as we all watched on. Personally, I was intrigued by what Shido might have to say, and I knew I wasn't the only one. There was some murmurings going about around the bus, obviously people starting to ponder on Shido's sayings. Seemingly satisfied with giving that food for thought, the teacher calmly went back to take his seat.

I glanced out the window, I guess just to distract me from whatever politics we were gonna have here in the bus... only what I saw in front of me was a drift back into the nightmare that we had escaped only moments ago.

"Oh my good... Look!"

I called out, and gestured towards the horizon. Most of us flocked towards the bus's windows... and there it was: The buildings and surroundings of Tokonosu City were in flames, smoke reaching as high as the eye can see... I knew that I pondered whether or not this outbreak thing was city-wide, but... seeing it confirmed before my eyes made me very, very uneasy... Shit, was there any safe haven out there to be had?

Most of us stayed silent for a while as the bus continued to drive on by around town. I didn't know where we were going... but with the way things are around us, I didn't think it mattered.

Eventually, we were driving on the roads along the coast, passing the old Sevenson Station behind us... I looked out towards the ocean and pondered whether or not we should've gotten a boat... going out to sea certainly seemed like an interesting idea. I doubt the water was poisoned by whatever brought these zombies. Then again, zombie fish might not be the most pleasant of enemies to come across.

Suddenly, I noticed one of the guys from Shido's class, the blonde-haired third-year, get up, obviously looking a bit unhinged, and slightly deranged. Still, who can blame the guy?

"Look! We'll never make it if we keep going!" he shouted out.

I didn't know what to think of his opinion, though the fact he was starting to frighten Fumiko and Momo by his yelling made me inclined to want to shut him up.

"First, why do we need to do whatever you guys planned to do? You all planned to go to the city without asking us! Maybe we should have looked for a safe place in the school?"

I paused at that notion and noticed that he did make a fairly good point on us being brought into the city and whatnot... Still though, _they_ were the ones who saved our asses, and even then, I still didn't think it would matter wherever the hell we went. Plus, if that bastard thought that anywhere in the school was safe by now, he'd be walking into his own deathtrap. I'd rather stay in this bus.

I glanced over and saw Kurokami stand up, nodding his head towards the third-year.

"He's right! We should find a safe place to hide, like the convenience store we just passed by..."

Huh, didn't think of that. That was actually a pretty good idea. Though this bus was still speeding towards wherever the hell it was going, so going back was seemingly out of the question. I felt tempted to probably back them up myself, though... I had to admit, I was still generally pessimistic about everything.

Suddenly, the bus came to a grinding halt, all of us looking forward in confusion. The school nurse got up from her seat and glared at all of us.

"I've had it! I can't drive with all of you yelling?"

Normally, when a bus-driver says that it would be kinda funny when you see the guy causing a ruckus put down, though here you could still tell the atmosphere was dead serious. I heard the third-year guy curse under his breath, starting to feel a little defeated.

"What would you have us do?"

We glanced over at Busujima, who spoke in that still-calm voice of hers. The blonde guy was now started to get real fidgety and nervous as he started looking around anxiously... For what, I had no idea. He pointed his hand in a seemingly random direction, over towards Komuro.

"I can't stand this guy!"

I looked over, and I didn't honestly know what this guy's problem with Komuro was. He seemed very, very tense, but... really, I think he just pointed over at him just as an excuse for his frustration.

"Why? What did I ever say to you?" Komuro asked.

The guy cursed under his breath again, as he started balling his fists. He started to lunge at Komuro, and I started to get up from my seat; this fucker was already starting to get on my own nerves, and he sure as hell wasn't making this bleak situation of ours any better.

In an instant though, I saw one of the girls up front get up from her seat and take out this big pole. She immediately got in front of Komuro and used it to jab the other guy pretty fucking hard into his stomach. He started to cough and reel from the pain, as the girl then swept him off of his feet leaving him on the ground.

My eyes raised somewhat when I actually recognized this girl too... coincidentally enough, it turned out to be Miyamoto... I saw her a couple of times, and Morita often had moments of prattling on about her. She was 'supposed to be' Komuro's girl. Seeing her get up and kick that guy's ass... well, it looked like I wouldn't be fucking with her or Komuro anytime soon.

I more or less enjoyed seeing that third-year guy get screwed, though I could see that some people, including Fumiko, were now getting pretty damn intimidated by the people who had just saved us. However, I saw Mr. Shido getting up again, walking past the injured guy paying no attention to him as he approached Komuro and Miyamoto. He started to clap his hands, that seemingly optimistic smile of his still in place.

"Splendid work. Miyamoto-san, Komuro-kun, that was some excellent teamwork."

Really? All I saw was Komuro just asking a question then Miyamoto did all the work.

"But... hmm... the fact this conflict arose simply proves what I stated earlier. We need a leader. Don't you understand?"

I could see where Mr. Shido was going with this, since it seemed fairly obvious. Still, him talking was proving... interesting to say the least, and it might be worthwhile to hear what he had to say. A lot of us were somewhat roused by that big speech he gave us back in the class, so we were fairly interested in hearing what he had to say now as well.

"So, I guess that means we've got only one likely candidate, right?" a girl up front defiantly said. Mr. Shido kept that smile of his up, as he approached her further up on the bus.

"Well Takagi-san, I am a teacher, and the rest of you are students. That alone makes it very clear who is the most qualified," he declared. He turned his back on her, as he approached us in the back, striking off some cheesy dramatic pose, which some of the girls on this bus at least seemed... somewhat enthralled with. Kinda humorous, though I could see Shido was still going for the drama.

"If I was the leader, I would prevent conflict!" he said, as his features softened. He looked around our numbers, mainly us that he saved earlier back in his classroom. "What do you say, guys?"

There was a bit of silence after that proclamation. Honestly, his promise of preventing conflict seemed a bit far-fetched, but it sounded crazy appealing at least.

That was when I saw Fumiko get up from her seat and starting to applaud Mr. Shido, clapping her hands in approval. Shido was always Fumiko's favorite teacher really, so it didn't seem too surprising to me. Shortly after that, Momo got up next to her and started clapping as well. I looked over in the seat in front of me and Kurokami was already up on his feet clapping too.

By now, it seemed like the choice was clear: I mean, everything looked good, in my book. Shido was able to keep his cool and also able to keep us calm as well back in the class, he was able to make smart decisions as evidenced by him keeping us in class until the chaos subsided, he gave the people left in that class hope to "survive and thrive" and whatnot... Hell, go ahead and just fuck all of those other reasons, Fumiko is _alive _because of this guy, and she trusts him. We had already pledged "loyalty" to Shido as we would all stick together.

So that's when I got up from my seat and started clapping too.

All around, there was applause too. I could see that first-year guy Yamada clapping his hands as well, and Yuuki behind us all as well. I even looked down and saw that third-year guy clapping his hands, and that bastard was still lying on the ground! Satisfied, Shido turned on a heel and faced Komuro and Miyamoto.

"Well, that's that. Looks like I've become leader, by a majority vote," Shido proudly declared.

I could notice up front that Miyamoto was looking pretty pissed off. I could see she was gritting her teeth a bit, as she left her head hanging a bit. Before I knew it, she slammed open the door to the bus, and jumped outside, taking that pole of hers with her. We all stopped clapping looking ahead of us pretty surprised. Komuro went after her, standing at the door.

"Rei!"

"_Fuck this_! No way in hell I am going to be anywhere near him!"

My eyes widened in surprise a bit. I glanced over a Mr. Shido, who seemed oddly nonchalant about this development. Seriously, what the fuck was her problem?

"Well, if you're saying we can't get along together, than I suppose we'll simply have to split..."

I myself looked a bit surprised at Mr. Shido's own saying, though knowing him, it wasn't out of character or anything... just seemed particularly harsh in this situation. And it looked like Komuro thought so too.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Komuro's attention was quickly shifted back towards Miyamoto, as she started darting off towards the nearby tunnel where the bus stopped. He jumped out of the bus followed her, and the rest of what they were saying was kinda unintelligible to me.

Somewhere off in the distance, I could hear a loud car horn blaring. Everyone on the bus started looking a bit puzzled as we looked around. I personally gave hope that that meant other survivors in the area. I looked towards any of the windows, trying to make out any sort of vehicle that may have been moving around.

That's when I heard a couple of the girls shriek. I tried to see what they were seeing... and frankly, when I saw it, I kinda wished that I didn't.

A bus, one that was pretty damn _larger _than the one we were in, was speeding down the road, crashing and mowing through everything that got in its way. I looked on in shock, as the bus stuck an abandoned car, causing the fucking thing to flip over, crashing into the tunnel entrance leaving a wake of sparks, fire, and broken shards of metal in its wake.

This was the kind of shit you see in action movies or something, but seeing this actually happen _in front of you _is a hell of a lot less cooler than what you'd be used to. I anxiously went up to the window in my seat to try and see if Komuro and Miyamoto were unscathed in that whole thing, but frankly I didn't give out too much hope. All I saw was one big broken bus lying on its side in flames.

Jesus Christ, this shit isn't happening...

I saw Busujima walk out of the bus too, to see if they were alright. Frankly, I already felt uneasy watching her leave. If she somehow died out there too, I knew our chances of survival would marginally decrease. Though a few minutes later, we were blessed to see her get back on the bus, now talking with the nurse. Up front, they started talking about taking different routes, and I managed to hear mention of meeting up at a police station. The rest I couldn't hear quite well... though at this point, I stopped caring. The bus started to move immediately after, and we quickly left the wreckage behind us.

I sat in my seat, kinda lowering my head a bit. Now we lost two more people. We all made it this far, so now we needed everyone we could get though... seeing Miyamoto and Komuro getting left behind was a bit unnerving, though I'm pretty sure that Busujima and the others up front planned on meeting up with them at some other destination, probably that police station I heard about earlier. Hell, that third-year guy finally got up from the ground and took a seat, and even _he _looked a bit shaken by those two's absence. So we all remained here, just sorta... shaken.

After a little while later, when the bus was relatively silent, save for a bit of chatter up the front, we heard someone deciding to break the silence on our side.

"Well now, that incident that occurred earlier was unfortunate indeed. Not to worry everyone, I am sure we will see them again in the near future."

I raised my head up to see Mr. Shido again, his attention spread out amongst us that were with him earlier. In contrast to the usual smiles that he kept up, the look on his face seemed genuinely sincere towards us. Still, despite his encouraging that we'd see Miyamoto and Komuro again, it seeing what had just happened left most of us a bit shaken.

"Come on. Perhaps we can focus our attention towards something a bit more uplifting, shall we? How about we give each other introductions? I know that many of you know each other as classmates, but we'll have to know each other a bit more personally than that, won't we? I'm sure we'll all know each other _very well_ in the future."

I shrugged a bit. I knew Fumiko, I knew Momo, and... I _definitely _knew Yuuki a hell of a lot more than I'd like... so I shrugged. At least this little introduction thing would be a distraction from this tense, dark world around us.

"For now, the basic intros will have to do. Come on now, gather around."

I noticed the people around me starting to huddle up a bit, though the group who was at this bus before us were still bunched up at the front, separate from us. Frankly though, perhaps it was good to just leave them to their own devices, for now; those up front were, for the most part, not too cheery upon learning Shido became our leader.

I was sure that they'd learn sensibility eventually, though.

For now, each of us who was saved by Mr. Shido looked around at each other in our little circle, shaking hands, saying hello and whatnot.

"Right now. Pretend it's the first day of class. Re-introduce yourselves... Say your names, and a little something about yourself. And please, don't be shy."

I shrugged. Seemed simple enough. The first person I noticed who got up, was the brown-haired guy. He smiled anxiously as he scratched his head, before he took a respectful bow. His eyes still darted about nervously.

"Well, let's see... I'm Masato Yamada... and I come from the Taiei district... and, I hope we all will be able to get along and survive this whole ordeal..."

He let out a forced laugh before sitting down. He hung his head down a bit in his seat, and obviously he didn't seem too distracted by this little event. Shido himself frowned somewhat at this prospect, though spoke nothing of it. The next person I noticed get up was Fumiko, who kept a smile on her face and seemed a bit more enthused about this all than the others.

"Hello... I'm Fumiko Kawamura, a second-year. I'm was in the archery club my first year, and this year I was in the Literature club," she declared, rather cheerily. "So, let's stick together, and I'm sure we'll all be okay, guys!"

She gave us a wink before sitting down, which I felt was pretty damn charming. However, it was kinda unnerving at how... _normal _she was acting in the face of this chaotic world. But... she was optimistic. And that alone kinda sent my spirits up a bit. Her enthusiasm also shined through to the other people.

Mr. Shido himself started clapping a bit, giving a light applause. The others quickly caught on and decided to clap too. And before I knew it... this felt like an _actual _class introduction.

"Very good, Kawamura-san..." Shido commented. "I'm glad you remain positive in this ordeal. An attitude like that will very much help us in the long run. A fantastic introduction. Now then, shall we move on?"

I paid attention and nodded my head along the next set of introductions. The next person who introduced themselves was Momo Ishihara, unsurprisingly. As I said before, she was the redheaded childhood friend of Fumiko's, and possibly one of the reasons said girl isn't my girlfriend at the moment. I'm not gonna hold a grudge or anything though, I mean all girls have their own circle of friends... of course, perhaps now I should be a bit more considerate, when you take into account that the 'circle' they once had is undoubtedly reduced to just those two. Momo's still a good girl, though. Maybe a bit more sporty and outgoing than Fumiko.

Next was Kurokami. _Kichiro _Kurokami to be exact. At first I thought he was a rather nice guy, considering he was willing to wait for me and allow me into Shido's class earlier, though now he just came off as a bit... weird now. I mean, he still came off as a nice guy overall, but Kurokami was kinda bragging about some exploits he had done when this outbreak started, and how he valiantly defended the classroom on the outside and stuff. At first it came off as believable, though when he started mentioning he had used a _gun _at some point, I didn't really buy it. By the end of it, his introduction sounded more like he was making up some video game fantasy story or something. Strange though, since he also seemed a bit twitchy and jittery too. His final line was proclaiming that if any of us found a gun, we'd bring it to him immediately. I somehow wondered if that was in our best interests, and I had noticed a guy holding some makeshift gun up front in the bus... something told me if he had heard Kurokami, he was tightening his grip on that gun right now.

Next up was the blonde-haired third year guy, who revealed his name to be Tsunoda Maruyama. And despite his lashing out at Komuro, came across as a pretty decent guy. Off the bat he wanted us to address him by first name, making it seem like he was eager to try and trust us, something Mr. Shido commended him for. And though he never made it on the team, Tsunoda also played a bit of basketball, so I guess it was nice to have a fellow athlete here. But, I don't really know if our likings for sports would really be a conversation topic; not when the world is the way it is, and the chance to ever play said sports would be slim... at least we were in the best shape to be surviving in this world. Aside from that, Tsunoda claimed that he didn't really want to say much else about himself, for now at least.

Yuuki Miku was next to introduce herself, but really... As I said, I already felt like I knew her _too well. _But in any case, she came off trying to be a bit innocent, while shoehorning a coy remark here and there. It was almost funny to see how much of a whore she still in this whole ordeal, but really, I guess it was kinda making the mood a bit more lighthearted. In fact I very much so enjoyed the fact that she left out every detail about being a whore in the first place, leaving it just a veiled implication. She finished off with saying that she'd say more about herself, but the rumors in school probably betrayed more about her than any words she could say about herself. And _damn straight_ on that too...

And before I knew it, I knew it was time to introduce myself. I was sure that most of these people around here were at least somewhat familiar with each other, since I assumed most of them were from Class 3A anyway, though I guess I was sort of the outlier.

"Well then, Ozaki-san. You're the last one. And I do recall you not being from our class, so I would ask that your introduction be a good one," Shido said.

I got up from my seat and gave a slight wave towards everyone, as I cleared my throat. Shit, what was I gonna say?

"Well, my name's Toshio Ozaki. I'm from Class 3B, and I've been shortstop on the Fujimi baseball team two years running..."

I paused for a moment, as I glanced over at everyone again. Then my eyes fell upon Fumiko again... I sighed as I tried to say something inspirational...

"And... I just wanna say, for as long as I'm with you guys, I'm gonna do my best to make sure you all stay safe. As Shido said, we're all gonna be survivors here."

I felt pretty good with myself after saying that statement, and Fumiko nodded her head, keeping that smile of hers. But when I heard a couple of whisperings going on behind my back, that's when I realized that the whole time I was saying that, my eyes never really drifted _away _from her.

Shit, so much for averting rumors about us now.

Thankfully, our teacher took our minds off of that subject for a moment, as he started clapping his hands. Continuing to follow his lead, everyone else clapped their hands, though it was notable that Fumiko was the only one who actually seemed to be doing so with some real emotion in. It kinda felt heartwarming, really.

"That was very good, Ozaki-san. Now then, I would ask that all of you please join hands right now," Shido proclaimed. He placed the hands of Yuuki and Kurokami in his own, they all started to randomly grab the hand of whoever was next to them.

It was a bit of an awkward request from Shido, though it seemed that most of us didn't really say anything, and we just humored him. At that moment though, when I felt my left hand being lightly gripped, I glanced over at Fumiko holding. I felt my other hand being held by someone, though I didn't really pay any heed towards that person. My focus was mainly on the girl beside. Deciding I had enough of these damn moments to last me a day, I looked forward towards the teacher, whom all of us were looking up to.

"So remember: Here, from now on, we stick together, guys. We will remain loyal to each other. Here in this harsh environment, we will band together. We will be a _family _now."

A family...? Huh... it felt weird when you thought hard on it, but right now... it had a nice ring to it.

"And you know what they say: A family is a haven in a heartless world."


	5. Can You Face Your Fears?

**For the time being, I'm guessing it's okay to be switching this over towards the "T" section of. Sorry for previous readers who might've gotten a tad confused seeing it here on this archive. But after all, we watch Highschool of the Dead, right? I'm sure some of us would be tolerant of some things here and there, given the fact that the canon material itself can sometimes have some even particularly nasty or naughty content compared to fanfics. But I believe the change might be temporary, and I'll be sure to place an advisory warning should certain content outside of what you've seen so far is to be viewed in the coming chapters. That's it, just a heads up. In the mean time, I hope you continue to enjoy my story.  
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_**~Mr. Wang**_

* * *

><p><em>Act 5: Can You Face Your Fears? <em>

The bus just kept rolling by, making turns here and there, likely with no destintion in mind... but for me, which I guess is a bit of a pessimistic view, the world around me was dead, and my own world was now constricted to this very minibus that sheltered us. Which is to say, I think it's only a matter of time for how long this bus can protect us from _them_.

A few hours passed after Komuro and Miyamoto ended up leaving our bus... and when that happened, it sorta shook all of us to our core of the likelihood the amount of survivors here just decreased by two. But now though, it was... it felt almost like it was a bit _too _diverging into normality, perhaps a bit too much for me to be comfortable with. Now, the mood was a bit of a contrast to all the uneasiness that was spreading throughout our numbers, earlier. After Shido sorta organized us and made us get to know each other a bit, that boosted our morale slightly, something I would've considered _impossible_ a couple hours ago.

As I looked out the windows, I could already see that the setting sun was dissipating, and the sky was growing dark. If it came down to it, I couldn't imagine a worse hell than having to fight _them_ in the dark of night. God damn horror movies gave me chills in the dark, let alone knowing your very life is hanging on a thread right now. Tokonosu City was already just becoming this dark void already... with the lack of city lightings, and most if not all the lamp posts dotted around the streets remaining dark and dim, it just made me feel so isolated here...

"But I don't get it, Takagi-san... all I ask is that it'd be nice if you and your friends would be a bit more cooperative with us. That's all."

"It's disturbing to see you and the rest of them siding with Shido... it plainly shows how naive and trusting you are, Kawamura-san."

"But a lot of us are siding with Shido-sensei, he's helped in saving our lives... he'll help us get through this mess..."

"Then the whole lot of you are naive. Especially since you're still holding the belief that Shido's supposedly the source of your savlation."

I had been eavesdropping on a conversation the moment I heard Fumiko's voice earlier. I looked up on the other side of the bus, a couple rows ahead of me, and saw her talking with a familiar pink-haired girl... Due to her rather instantly-recognizeable appearance and mention of her name... this was undoubtedly the infamous Saya Takagi.

Morita couldn't stop talking about this girl. She earned the rank as the hottest girl out of all the second-years in Tokonosu Academy... Seeing her now, she was attractive, yes, though I think I've seen better. And from what I've heard of her, I was now getting a bit worried for Fumiko now.

Walking over on an adjacent seat on the row next to Fumiko, I tried to interject into the conversation, in a casual mood.

"Something going on here? What's the fuss about?"

Fumiko glanced over at me, cheery as ever, I guess. Takagi on the other hand, looked at with somewhat quizically, though the look on her face seemed quite analytical... And I've seen that look before. She was undoubtedly looking for things to criticize.

"I think I've heard of you. Ozaki, is it?" she said, narrowing her eyes slightly from behind those glasses. "Well, it makes sense now. I suppose it's fools like you and your faux girlfriend that Shido is attempting to take control here now."

My eyes widened a bit at that accusation. Glancing over towards the back of the bus, I saw Shido paying no heed towards Takagi's words, as he was more focused on a conversation with Yuuki, Tsunoda, and the others. Looking back at the pink-haired girl, I sighed. I knew this probably wasn't going to be pleasant.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I asked somewhat annoyed, though genuinely confused on this matter.

"I'm merely stating that it makes sense for those subject to cowardice, naitivity, and fear would so readily pledge their allegiance to that man."

Both Fumiko and I left our mouths slightly agape at that comment. A great number of things went through my head, a lot of them wanting to call out Takagi on something... But I didn't really think I knew her well enough to throw something at her. I looked over at my friend, who was stammering for words as she tried to get a reply to that. Fumiko lowered her head slightly, as she spoke.

"Fear and cowardice...? Takagi-san, I have to argue that not all of us can be as strong as you, if you seem so impervious to those emotions..."

"Tell me, can _you _face your fears?" Takagi asked.

I wasn't sure who that question was directed to. But she seemed like she was looking at both of us. I guess it didn't matter. Both of us meekly stayed silent for a few moments anyway.

That's when I saw the fat guy sitting next to Takagi, the one holding that weird nailgun of his, tapping the pink-haired girl on the shoulder.

"Uh, Takagi-san? Kawamura-san, uh, does kinda have a point there... I'll admit, I a_ little _got afriad when this all happened. Besides, we don't have to get a rocky start, here..."

"Shut up, and let me do the talking, Hirano," she said, quickly silencing him.

I found it surprising that this Hirano guy was likely someone that she carried a bit of trust in, and she was quick to dismiss him anyway. She seemed like the kind of gal who'd sit by herself, anyway, let alone perhaps letting the fat otaku guy sit next to her. I admired him for trying to play mediator, but I was still ultimately disppointed Takagi just shrugged him off. She'd prove to be a stubborn bitch...

With a slight adjustment of her glasses, the pink-haired girl continued.

"Giving way to your emotions in an emergency situation like this ends with you making hasty descisions. You start to panic, your heart rate rises, your body starts to lose direct connection to the brain, and thus all rationality with it. Anarchy of the mind, and body. And it's obvious that quite a few of you are more shaken up than usual."

Fumiko continued to keep calm to every one of Takagi's highly detailed arguments. I had to admit, that I would've lost it by now...

"As I said, we cannot be as strong as you, Takagi-san... and might I ask, what do you mean when you said _naitivity, _earlier?"

"What does it sound like? You're naive and a bit too trusting, just look at the kind of guys you hang out with," she said gesturing towards me.

Okay, that touched a _god damn nerve _right there... I started to ball a fist, but my hands calmed when I noticed that pink-haired girl starting to observe that gesture, looking not in the least surprised about it.

"Then again," she continued... "I guess we're talking about one of Shido's Pets here. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me at all that you'd so readily side with him."

I couldn't hold my tongue at that statement, I had to try and speak out _something _to help her... better than sitting with my thumb up my ass just watching this argument going on.

"Okay, what the hell do you mean, _Shido's Pet_?"

She glanced over at me, nonchalantly. Takagi waggled a finger over in my direction.

"You. You aren't oblivious to it, are you? You've seen how she's always held him in high regard, how she's always flocking towards him? There has to be an explanation for that, right?"

I paused for a moment... I mean, I knew that Fumiko always went to Shido whenever she had a bad day or needed someone to talk to (a job I kinda felt should've been mine), but I never actually thought _why_... still...

"Why is that so damn important then?"

Takagi paused for a moment before shifting her eyes forward, towards the horizon, or road, or wherever the hell this bus was headed.

"Well for starters, it seems like I can't reason with you two."

"Why am I a _Pet_? I am no such thing! Shido-sensei has been nothing but kind to me all year, and I admire him! We understand each other, and... and..."

Fumiko scrambled for words to say, though I think she made her point across. At this point, those words caught Mr. Shido's attention. He got up from his seat and walked over a bit closer, though he didn't say anything or intervene... But he was intently observing us, as if waiting for all our responses in this weird conversation. What's this world come to, eh?

"That's where you're wrong, Kawamura. Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding."

Feeling a bit defeated, she hung her head slightly low, while her friend who sat beside her, Momo, patted her back trying to comfort her... Seriously, where the hell was Momo during this whole time? Momo was supposed to be one of Fumiko's best friends, and she didn't do shit to help her out in this argument.

I had to admit, the growing combination of negative emotions from all these sources was starting to take its toll on me... and I think that others might've been able to notice.

"And you think you understand us so well?" I asked incredulously.

Placing a hand on her chin, Takagi looked like she was giving the matter a bit of genuine thought, before shaking his head.

"Nope, I guess not. For example, I don't think I'll ever understand why you, Ozaki, had this silent crush on this girl for a long time, but recently settled for a complete harlot like Miku..."

I just felt something... _snap_.

Before I knew it, I got up from my seat, walked over, and grabbed Takagi by the front of her shirt, my fist balled up ready to just beat her down for how much of a bitch she's been being to us. When our only crimes were evidently choosing Shido to lead us, and simply being human.

At that moment, I could see in Takagi's eyes that the rather confident demeanor she's been exhibiting was now stifling a bit. She was flinching, and I could see the slight hint of fear in her eyes.

I never really hit a girl before, since I guess I considered myself too much of a gentleman to do that to a woman, but... I guess there was a first time for everything.

That's when I heard this weird cocking sound. I looked up, and saw the fat guy, Hirano, aiming that makeshift gun of his, right at my head.

"Let go of Takagi-san."

"Damn it, Hirano, you've heard what she's been saying, and you know she's-"

"Let Takagi-san go. Now. And nobody gets hurt."

I looked away from Takagi and I could see it in Hirano's eyes... he didn't look _at all_ like the Mr. Nice Guy he seemed like just a couple minutes ago. Hell, the look in his eyes probably didn't look too far off from a cold-blooded killer, and that alone almost scared the crap out of me.

"Shio-kun, you don't have to do this, just let her go!"

"Agreed. Ozaki-san, as admirable as you and Kawamura-san are in defending me, I have to say that this conflict isn't worth it. Despite our differences, some mere civility would be required to survive. Takagi-san, I would also reccomend you take these words to heart."

The combined words of Fumiko, Mr. Shido, and Hirano (as well as the gun pointed at my head) made my grip loosen. I sighed, as I let Takagi go, and marched off towards my seat near the back. I just felt... humiliated, right there. Sure, maybe Yuuki heard it, but she wouldn't argue with being a harlot; it's a much more polite word than what others have called her. But to be humiliated like that in front of Fumiko... I mean, Takagi kept addressing her as my faux girlfriend or some shit. It was common that me and her got teased like that, but this was... a step up, to say the least. I dunno, I'm not sure what Fumiko thinks of me now. She's known of my recent history with Yuuki, but she's been kinda neutral about it, and I guess she doesn't think about it.

Christ, I'm worrying about a girl's feelings in the god damn end of the world. Are my priorities that mixed? I felt a bit defeated, as I sat down and rested myself up against the backrest. I sighed, trying to think of whatever weird future that lied ahead of us.

Behind me, I could overhear some chatter.

"Uh, Takagi-san? Maybe Shido-sensei is right... it would help if you could just... lay off, for a bit?"

"Shut up, Hirano. I didn't need your help, you know. I had it all under control. Idiot."

It's funny, even behind my back she's a bitch.

I smirked, just a little, before I leaned my head back a but into a more relaxed position. This whole apocalypse shit was kinda making me feel tired, physically and mentally. I recall being pretty knocked out cold shortly before me and Shido's class making our mad dash towards the buses. That didn't really make me feel any more pumped up or something, though.

Letting out another deep, heavy sigh, I looked out the window. It was getting pretty dark. I recon that there's maybe a few minutes of daylight left. The setting sun in the horizon was last thing I saw before I felt myself starting to doze off again.

* * *

><p><em>I sighed, leaning forward against the railing of one of the balconies at Fujimi Academy. At least it was a Sunday... slacking off just a bit would be tolerated for now. Ms. Kumi's kinda been getting a little grated by my antics, despite the fact I'm at least one of the more compitent members of class, who knows the material she actually teaches us. Despite the fact that if I was present all the time, and that I'd get a much more... accurate grade than what I have now, there's still also the fact that I've kinda gotten into conflict with those who don't agree with me. I guess I'm just not a people person. Well actually... maybe not the right phrase to describe me, but not the worst.<em>

_I've got Morita, I've got Miko-chan, Sanagawa, Murashi, and a couple other friends here and there. It's all good. _

_I looked ahead of me, off towards the city's horizon. It looked like it was that time of Spring again. The familiar sight of pinkishly pale petals snowing around the area was one of refreshingly beautiful, and (dare I say it?) romantic sights._

_"The cherry blossoms are blooming again..."_

_It was... a calming sight to see again. Sakuras were always an uplifting spectacle to behold._

_Heh, damn... If someone, especially one of my friends, caught me being all romantically philosophical, I wouldn't hear the end of it. _

_"Blooming, eh? Heh, I guess you're right... the girls dig that romantic crap, don't they? Makes it seem like this Spring would make for some pretty good pickings." _

_Fuck. I hate being reminded that I'm not alone. _

_"Yeah, I guess so," I told Morita. _

_"Speaking of which, it true you were with Miku the other night?" _

_Damn it. This again._

_"These are just a bunch of rumors, man. Don't believe everything you hear."_

_Morita nodded his head, though the smug grin on his face didn't seem like he completely believed me._

_"Right. Gotcha."_

_Bastard. _

_That grin persisted. Something tells me he could tell I was calling him some obscenity or other in my mind. And... well, the bastard would be right in this case. _

_I give off a bit of a forced chuckle. He'd likely talk it out of me sooner or later._

_While Morita silently expresses satisfaction over my response, I look down at the students wandering about the school grounds. Everyone seemed to blend in, and really, all I could see was a mass of faceless students in uniform, clumping up here and there. But one person, mainly due to the outfit she was wearing, stood out. And I wasn't in the least surprised who it was._

_There I see her again._

_Fumiko was walking towards the gates, accompanied by her redheaded friend, Momo. What made her so recognizeable was the Kyudo uniform she was wearing at the moment. She obviously just came out of archery practice. This wasn't the first time I've seen Fumiko in that hakama and kimono of hers, but... seeing her in more "traditional" clothing was kinda a nice change of pace... not that she looked bad in anything, but some outfits kinda brought out her charm more than others. _

_I start to walk out of the balcony and go down the stairs._

_"Toshio, where are you going?" Morita called out. As I kept going, there was a pause in his speech. "Well, go ahead and get her, man. I guess I know the drill by now."_

_Damn. He knows me more than I give him credit for._

_Not bothering to reply, I head downstairs and get to the ground floor. After getting past the front gates, some frantic dashing, followed by a slowing of my pace, I calmed myself and steadied my breath as I looked forward, seeing Fumiko and Momo not far away. _

_Lowering my pace down to something more akin to a brisk walk, I eventually catch up with them. The thought of cherry blossoms were still on my mind._

_"Fumiko!" _

_She turned around, as she adjusted her glasses and smiled back at me._

_"Shio-kun!" she called out. I paused for a moment, followed by some awkward silence._

_"Don't use that nickname around here, not when we have company."_

_She looked at me with a quizzically absent minded expression, before she turned her head to her friend next to her. _

_"Oh, sorry Momo."_

_"Bah, get me away from this lovey dovey couple here!" _

_I couldn't help but grin a little. Momo was always kinda just... annoyed by me and Fumiko's antics. And while we just kinda ignored those 'lovey dovey' remarks, I myself personally saw them as compliments of sorts. And if I didn't know any better, I think Momo could've easily been jealous I'm stealing Fumiko away from all the girl friends and whatnot. _

_Glancing away from Momo and back to Fumiko, I gestured towards her Kyudo uniform. _

_"Just getting out of archery class, Fumiko?" _

_She nodded her head respectfully._

_"Ah, yes... The instructor asked me to go get a few supplies for the Kyudo club. So I'm here in town, off to go to the sporting goods store."_

_"Oh, cool. Mind if I tag along with you two?"_

_Fumiko nodded her head cheerily, while Momo kinda just looked a bit... indifferent. Bah, it didn't matter. That redhead's opinion didn't really carry a lot of weight most times, anyway. Not that I completely disregard her, but still..._

_After a while... with the events going on, this is where I... I felt this weird kinda deja vu. Everything happening right now, seemed like... it already happened. Recently, even. Having the talk with Morita, finding Fumiko and Momo going out in the town to shop for some stuff... _

_Like I was looking back on some past event. _

_The odd realization was kinda giving me a headache, as I tried to think and consider what the hell was going on. I could feel the girls' stares kinda weighing down on me. I gestured with my arm, to dismiss them and silently say that I was alright._

_Finally recomposing myself, I see that all of us made it to the sporting goods store. While Fumiko and Momo were off discussing this and that while looking at this and that, I wait outside. _

_I was still trying to make sense of things. Already, things didn't feel "as they should." Like, "this isn't supposed to happen." My sense of deja vu was broken the moment I decided to stay outside the sporting store, instead of staying in there and talking with the girls. And it didn't feel good. _

_Damn. I started to get paranoid. _

_Suddenly, the sound of a shrill scream echoed around the corner of the street. My paranoia was correct, but at the most devastating of revelations. I saw some guy... attacking this woman. What the fuck was he doing? Mugging her? Raping her? In the damn streets, in the open of all places? _

_That's when I saw the blood. _

_A nearby police officer immediately took action, shooting the man, as he crouched down to the downed woman's body and... bit her? _

_Is this some kind of sick joke? _

_But as I see that the guy didn't go down, even after the police officer shot him, or it rather, several times, it got up, and walked over, arms outstretched in an unhuman-like fashion. Then the woman got up too, despite the profuse amounts of blood staining her clothes._

_And then it hit me. I started to remember. Was it the... future? I see my school being overrun by things. Things that looked like humans. They were... __**them**__. _

_Something just locked in place inside my head after that. I looked around me. I could see several more of them walking about, approaching the sporting goods store. Glancing up at the police officer, I see him starting to run away in panic, away from the man who was no longer human. As he rushes past me, and I think I see that he was fiddling with his pistol to reload it, but he dropped the magazine. In a fit of frustration, he tossed aside the gun too, making a mad run for it. _

_Instinctively, I rush over to pick it up, holding the gun and magazine in my hands. The pistol itself was still loaded with a couple rounds. I look up, and see the police officer being devoured horribly, as many of them swarm around him. I see a couple of them approaching the sports store._

_"Ozaki, what the hell's going on? What do you think you're doing, holding that gun?" _

_I look behind me, and see both Momo and Fumiko outside of the store, carrying their bags. _

_Fuck. All of this seemed to be real. I couldn't tell if this was real or fantasy. But I couldn't let them come to harm either way. I see a couple of them approaching. Raising up my pistol, Fumiko and Momo alarmedly shriek as I open fire on the monsters. _

_"Shio-kun, what's happening? What's going on?" _

_"Damn it! Fumiko, we have to go! He's gone insane now!" _

_I'm focused on trying to kill the things in front of me, firing my shots. But as soon as I heard Momo's words, I felt so damn rushed. I emptied the current magazine, not bothering to keep aim and precision; not that I was a great shot to begin with. _

_"No! Wait a minute, damn it!"_

_Momo grabbed Fumiko by the arm, and started running. There was a crowd developing, and to the unkeen eye, they would've looked like a group of onlookers investigating the scene. But I knew their true natures. _

_I dash over, trying to save them, only to see Fumiko and Momo realize what they truly are a bit too late. Momo is grabbed on the arm by a zombie, sinking its teeth into her. Fumiko lets go of her friend and shrieks in terror, backing away, and hopelessly seeing her getting attacked. _

_I rush over, and see that Fumiko runs behind me, staying close. Focusing on trying to save her friend, I take my pistol. 8 rounds or so... I feel my adrenaline pumping, as I focus my aim to try and take these bastards down in one hit. _

_In what seemed like some weird rapid succession, one I only thought was possible in video games or some shit, I see six of them collapse to the ground around her. With Fumiko running behind me, we rush over to Momo's aid. _

_She was bleeding heavily, and while Fumiko was trying to slow the blood spurts with heartbreaking futility, another thing shot into my mind: I recalled a moment, where after Morita had been killed, I saw him twitch and get up as one of those monsters. I... had to save Momo from this. _

_I don't think it would do Fumiko good to see her friend turned into one of them. It was starting to come back to me, and I remember at some point in time, I was too cowardly to save Morita. _

_I aim my gun at Momo._

_"What...? Wait, Shio-kun... Shio-kun, no... please..."_

_I hear the girl next to me crying out pleas not to do what had to be done. And it tore me apart listening to her. I watch Momo slowly, and weakly turn her head to face me. An expressionless gaze she gave me. An expressionless gaze I gave back at her._

_I pull the trigger._

_Her expression quickly changed from weak, to incredibly pained, as she let out a cry, clutching the gunshot wound she had, among her other mortal injuries. _

_God damn it. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want her to suffer like this. I just... wanted to shoot her in the heart or something, so Fumiko wouldn't have to look at a marred version of her friend's face. If I want to end her suffering quickly and efficiently, I guess that I have no choice. I press the pistol up against her head, this time closing my eyes. _

_I pull the trigger again. Save for Fumiko's sobs, I hear silence._

_Opening my eyes, I let out a deep heavy sigh, not paying attention to my surroundings. Only wondering if my coup de grace was really worth it. _

_That's it. I have no more shots. I drop the pistol on the ground. _

_I could easily go into the sports store and maybe grab a hunting weapon to defend myself with, but frankly... I didn't have the will for it now. I just killed my love's friend, saving her from becoming a zombie. How the fuck should I feel about that?_

_"Shio-kun, behind you!" _

_I take Fumiko's warning, and look behind me. Opening my eyes wide in surprise, I see one of them approaching me, placing a hand on each of my shoulders, as its decaying face approached mine, opening that wide mouth of his that would become my personal gate to hell. _

_It started shaking me rapidly, and I was starting to feel really god damn dizzy... fucking zombies all around me... _

_"Ozaki-kun! Ozaki-kun!"_

_That... voice... it wasn't Fumiko's... it sounded familiar though. But did I even care? _

_I felt like I was gonna die here... god damn it, I don't want it to end up like this..._

_I just want to... wake up... from this nightmare..._

_"Ozaki! Ozaki, wake up!"_

* * *

><p>I felt my body spring to life, violently moving myself again. My senses were still blurry, and I wasn' thinking straight, but all I feel like I could do was panic. I shook my head, trying to block out whatever the hell was going on.<p>

I still feel myself being shaken, and I was instantly reminded of the zombie that grabbed me. I flail my arms and limbs around kicking the nearest mass in front of me, not paying attention to what was ensuing in front of me.

"Ow! What the hell's your problem?"

That voice.

I open up my eyes, and see Momo's face in front of mine.

"Holy shit, what the hell!"

I yell and exclaim a curse word here and there, as I scramble through the seats, backing away from her. I look at her, sweat dripping from my brow, and I find myself hyperventilating. I grab my chest, as if expecting it to explode from how hard it was beating right now.

I look down, then at my surroudings.

The... bus. I'm on the bus right now. I look around me. There's these guys whose faces don't have names for yet, but they slowly get back to me. I see Tsunoda, and Kurokami, and Yamada, and Yuuki, and Mr. Shido. I also Momo, and... Fumiko. They're all staring at me.

It takes a moment for me to collect my thoughts and manage to come to terms with the fact that what that surreal experience I just felt earlier was just a dream. Not minding the people around me, I look outside the window. It's morning outside, and what's even more spectacular, I see we're somehow stuck in traffic.

Traffic. With _people._

I sighed in relief. Not only was Momo alive and well, but also it seemed like a doomed apocalypse wasn't so destined after all. But I've still got so much shit swirling in my mind right, I just get a headache again.

Glancing back at the group of people staring at me, their puzzled and bewildered expressions soon changed to those of seemingly genuine concern. I see the third-year with the bleached hair, Tsunoda, approach me.

"Damn man, are you alright? You look like shit..."

My eyes dart here and there, like some cornered animal backed into a corner before its predator would finish him.

"Shio-kun...? Shio-kun! Are you alright? Please tell me you're alright!"

I hear Fumiko's sweet voice, and her concerned cries try to make me find some sort of way to calm myself down. I recall a moment in that dream, of an infinitely more pleasant moment than the fleeting, and ending moments of that dream.

"Don't use that nickname around here, not when we have company."

I chuckle slightly, trying to give reassurance that I was okay. It didn't entirely make me feel better until I could see her give off a relieved smile.

"Well Ozaki-kun, I can tell you're very stressed by our current happenings. Having nightmares now, are we?" a voice said.

I glance over my shoulder to find Mr. Shido, looking as concerned as everyone else around me. I kinda just gulp and nod my head.

"Well then," he continued. "I'm sure a few of us can relate to that. We're all going through some hard times. But together, we still have our strength. We'll pull through this whole thing, and get stronger from it. Together. Right guys?"

He gestures over towards everyone, who nods their heads in agreement. Fumiko takes a moment to sit on the seat next to me, undoubtedly to try and comfort me and get me to talk about what the hell happened just now.

Frankly, I don't feel like talking about it for now. I'll probably just... get dragged further into this insanity of mine.

Off near the front of the bus, the voice of a certain pink-haired girl catches my ear.

"Hmph. You can certainly know how to make a scene, Ozaki. But this just brings up my earlier points. Can you face your fears?"

I don't think the question was really meant to be heard, and was more like just some private musings inadvertantly said aloud. Then again, maybe it was her own gambit anticipating me to hear. I could see her being conniving like that. But she had a point.

Can I face my fears? That's the million dollar question right there.


	6. Live and Let Die

_Act 6: Live and Let Die_

The bus was moving at a painfully slow pace at the moment, though frankly, with what I already see going around me thus far, I don't mind terribly much. I look outside the windows of bus, looking at the scenes developing all around us. I can't help but sigh, as I look off into the scenery in front of us, and off in the distance. It's very... bittersweet. Sweet in that I saw that there was a lot more people alive than I would've ever imagined possible. Bitter when I could see that a lot of people looked quite... defeated... sad... If you look at any one specific group, you could already tell they had some sort of story going with how they got here. You see a mother carrying her baby here, a family hauling enough luggage to fill up a house over there...

And off in the distance, Tokonosu City didn't look any better since yesterday. It still looked as shitty as it did when all of us left Fujimi Academy, and saw it off in the horizon...

Buildings aflame, smoke rising in the sky, and everything just looking a hell of a lot worse for wear.

It makes me wonder if Komuro and Miyamoto made it. Damn it, that Miyamoto's an idiot... she's probably dead right now, dragging Komuro with her. For what? Her personal dislike of Mr. Shido? The fact that the entirety of survivors from Fujimi Academy were restricted to this bus, and moreso that they were just recently deducted by two, kinda depresses me.

But then I glance around at the traffic, the honking cars, and people walking about from the city and possibly abroad. At least some portion of the city is alive. I feel relieved things could've been a hell of a lot worse than they are now.

"Shio-kun? Is something wrong? You've been awfully quiet since this morning."

Well, I know that. Not that I didn't have some pretty damn good justification for it, given that crazy fucking dream I had. I'm already getting paranoid that this may very well be how I spend the rest of my nights when I fall asleep. Nothing but reminiscing on better times, only for it to be fucked up by everything that's going on right now. I glance over at Fumiko. Since this whole 'end of the world' thing started, she's usually been in a frantic, or panicked state. But now she's kinda got this cute little concerned look on her face. It's not unlike the kind of face she used to use whenever I got into a fight or a got injured in baseball practice: Genuinely, and wholeheartedly concerned, but sweetly encouraging to try and get me back up on my feet.

"Yeah... I'm okay, Miko-chan. I've just been having a rough time. You understand, right?"

I felt comfortable enough to whisper her nickname, and she did express just a slightest bit of surprise at hearing again. Nonetheless, she stayed at my side. Fumiko paused for a moment, thinking, before slowly nodding her head.

"I... think so. But I've heard some things from people around here. I was in Shido-sensei's class the whole time this happened, but... for those that went outside... it sounded like a truly horrid nightmare. When all of us were running to this bus, I never felt so scared in my life!"

I knew that she was trying to comfort me. However, what disturbed me was that she recalled running out to the bus with as much "fear" as if it were like her recalling an embarrassing moment from her past in front of a full classroom. I dunno if she was merely trying to keep up a somewhat cheery demeanor, or if she felt kinda... disattatched from recent events... but it just didn't feel too natural.

"Yeah... me too..." I weakly replied. No doubt she knew something was up by now.

Fumiko cocked her head slightly, noting my facial expression to be... not as uplifted as hers. Figures. She then placed her hand in mind, tightened by her delicate grip. The gesture caught me off guard as I glanced back at her.

"Don't worry, Shio-kun. I'm sure Shido-sensei will help all of us pull through in this."

Now her rather touching gesture with her hand felt cheap. There she went with her faith in Mr. Shido again. Maybe my faith isn't as strong as hers, but she does seem to put an awful lot of trust in him. I mean, back during the school year, he _was_ her favorite teacher, and she always talked to him for some sort of counseling whenever it came to one issue or another. All-in-all, I have to say that from what I've heard, he doesn't sound like a bad guy. But still...

I glanced over near towards the middle of the bus, and saw Momo gesturing over to Fumiko. I felt goosebumps again just looking at her.

After I... well, _put her out of her misery _in that dream of mine, it feels so, so weird seeing her again. My image of Fumiko's best friend has probably been forever tarnished. I look over and see the girl beside me nodding her head towards her friend, as she glanced back at me.

"I'm gonna go back over there now, okay? I hope you feel better, Toshio..."

She got up from her seat. My own grip on her hand conversely tightened, halting her before she got far away.

Fumiko looks at me, genuinely surprised. She gave me the same look kinda like she would some kind of hurt puppy dog. I didn't know whether or not to consider that a good or a bad thing. But then she showed the slightest bit of resistance and I allowed her to free herself from my grasp without hesitation.

"I'm sorry, Shio-kun. We'll talk later, I'm sure."

I see her leave and walk on over towards her friend Momo. She sits down, and starts to discuss whoever the hell know's what.

Seeing her with Momo again made me feel uneasy. The point that I had to kill her aside, there was also the fact that... I remember seeing Momo rushing away from me, thinking I was some kinda maniac, taking Fumiko with her. That... lead to their doom.

I sighed, as I slunk back into my chair.

Okay, so I guess there's really no denying it: I'm apparently the third-most important person to her on this bus. Momo and Mr. Shido seem to be the second-most and most important, respectively.

Shit, I can't help but think of how fucking stupid it is that she's all that's on my mind lately. It's the end of the fucking world and all... but when Fumiko is all I seemingly have left that's important to me in this world, is it okay to feel just a _little _jealous right now?

I'm certainly not hoping for those guys to die or anything. Hell no, I'm not_ that _much of a bastard. In fact, Fumiko must be the luckiest girl in Tokonosu right now. She's got her best friend, her favorite teacher, who's almost been like a second father in her own words, and... well, she's got me. And I'm still not sure what I am to her.

"So, uh... having girl problems, I guess?"

I glance over to my side. I recognized the person's face, though I didn't immediately have a name to attribute towards him. He had short brown hair, and looked like a first-year. And if I remember correctly, also the person who introduced himself first when Shido asked us to yesterday.

"Uh, right... Yamada, was it?" I asked.

The brown haired guy nodded his head.

"Yeah, Masato Yamada... glad to see that somebody's remembered my name."

He took a quick glance over his shoulder, towards everyone else on the bus, before sitting down on the seat across from mine.

"You know, I'm almost envious of you, having _girl problems_ of all things. I guess even when everything's fallen apart like this, it's nice to have _some _distraction. Even for you, if it's not... necessarily a good distraction, it's something to take your mind off of this end of the world thing..."

I raised a brow at him.

"You think I don't care about the shit going on around us? I'm scared as hell. You don't know what's been going on in my head lately. I'm sure as hell worried about the well-being of everyone on this bus too. It makes me paranoid. So don't think I'm trying to _distract_ myself, when I talk to people."

Taken aback by my words, he hung his head a bit, before nodding in my direction.

"I... I see. Well, sorry for that misunderstanding. I myself haven't talked to a lot of people because I've sorta just been worried about my family. Heck, I'm wondering if I can find them amidst this traffic here... then again, they lived on the far end of Tokonosu City..."

"Family, huh?"

I lean back in my seat, thinking about families... mine, Fumiko's, and what others might be thinking.

I know that I am a bit indifferent, and maybe I don't even care about what happens to my family. My dad treated me like shit, anyway. Always strict, quick to shoot down my enthusiasm whenever he thought I was showing off about one or another thing. He was a tough bastard to please. Mom was more lenient, but... well, I think she kinda got to the way she was because of my dad. Mom and Dad always fought about stuff, stuff I couldn't understand at that age. And I'm _still_ not sure about why they split up. On top of all this, I was an only child, and I've got no siblings to be worried for. If anything, I have mild concern for my mother's well-being. But I'm not gonna lose sleep over not knowing what's happened to her by now.

Shifting my vision back towards Fumiko, who seemed to having a somewhat serious conversation with Momo, I think about her family, namely her parents. I never knew how close she was to them, but from what I remember, she loved them, and they loved her. At least that's what she told me. It's all a bunch of fuzzy memories whenever I look back to when I was younger and met them, but it seemed that they cared about her a fair bit at least. Of course seeing as how Fumiko hasn't said a word of concern about her family, I'm guessing she's either oblivious to the possibility of them suffering a rather harsh fate, or she's taking it quite well.

I glance up, looking at the population of the bus. I see the others sitting around. There's Momo, Tsunoda, and Kurokami, all of whom I know next to nothing about them, personally. I see Yuuki sitting off by herself near the back, talking to Mr. Shido. She's likely a bitch who'd be able to get over and ignore her family, if she hasn't already before this whole apocalypse even happened. So I'm not worried about her too much at the moment. On that note, I let out a heavy sigh.

"I dunno. Shido kinda said everyone on this bus was gonna be a family now. I feel a bit weird about it, but I've felt that I should come to terms with that sooner or later. It's at least practical to stay in a group to survive this mayhem. And forgive me if I'm not really holding much optimism for my own family right now. I've pretty much assumed the whole world's gone to shit."

Yamada looked slightly surprised at my response this time, and stayed silent for a while. I could see him taking a gulp, as his eyes darted here and there, his mind probably going over different directions of scenarios this whole predicament could lead to. I started to wonder whether or not I might've been a bit harsh towards him in saying that.

"Well... I guess I understand that. And I know that we're all here to help each other out now. But I lost a bunch of friends back at Fujimi Academy. I don't want to lose my family, too."

I lost a bunch of friends too. Hell, I saw one die in front of my eyes. But... my mind was fixated on Fumiko the whole time. And really, I feel content alone, just knowing she's okay. But I guess looking back, it sucks to know that all the other friends I had are now just a group of mindless zombies. Those... _things_ that now walk around this city. But at least I have an affirmation that everyone that I gave a shit about, or everyone who gave a shit about me are all either dead or turned into one of _them_. Or they're on this bus, with me. But I guess Yamada still had to play guessing games inside his head as to whether or not his family was alright. And if it eventually crops up into Fumiko's, or anyone else's heads, then I guess I feel an inkling of hope that their families or loved ones might be alright. For their sakes, at the very least. Despite my pessimism, I'm sure someone they cared for was still alive out there.

"Well, Yamada-kun, Ozaki-kun _does _have a point, if I may so grudgingly admit it. I will have to painfully agree, that it does seem slim that we will find our respective families..."

I looked over my shoulder and saw Mr. Shido looking at both of us. I had no idea how long he was eavesdropping, though the feeling that he would be listening in on the most random of moments was kinda creepy. Another thing I noted was how loudly he seemed to announce this, obviously trying drawing the attention of everyone else on the bus. Sure enough, I notice that everyone in the rear half of the bus has their gaze fixated on him. I glance a bit further down, and i

"Our survival, is one of our most vital of objectives. We cannot allow our constant worries and woes to weigh us down. We _must _keep our cool in this predicament."

I was sorta nodding my head in agreement. A bit more of a subtle gesture of approval, when I see some people either cheering, clapping, or simply staring in awe. When everyone's either confused or scared, I guess it makes sense that you'd readily depend on someone who thinks they can make things better. Fumiko's hype about Shido hasn't really struck me as anything significant, from what I've seen of him. But hell, what Shido's saying right now already seems like the most realistic thing that he's proclaimed in a while. So I'll at least commend him for that.

"Now, I realize that some of you are no doubt worried about something, or someone, but for their sake, we must upkeep our discipline. And we must keep calm. For while their chances are indeed slim, slim is better than nothing, if we spend all our time panicking over everything happening around us in the coming days."

Gradually ignoring Shido's rants, I looked further down the bus, at the group that saved us the other day. They looked like they were all whispering and discussing things amongst themselves, taking occasional glances back here at Shido and everyone else. Now I'm almost starting to feel bad. As grateful as we should be for letting us on this bus, we've been almost nothing but trouble for them. We made Komuro and Miyamoto leave the bus... though to be honest, I only feel bad about Komuro in particular (that girl probably suffered a pointless death over the fact she simply hates Shido for whatever reason). And we then get into fights and senseless conflicts that also put us on uneasy terms. Then again, Saya's a bitch, so I don't feel like that could've been avoided. But I at least know some of the others might be a bit more respectable, especially Busujima-senpai. Not that I know her well or anything, but you do hear a lot of stories and whatnot about her. All of them good.

I then heard a pair of hands clapping. I look over to see Mr. Shido doing the gesture. Though he wasn't facing me, I think he was trying to keep everyone's attention. He may have off-handedly noticed me spacing out, and wanted my ears and eyes more fixated on him. Feels like a school lecture all over again.

"For example, worrying about the safety of our families... Only with discipline can we create a plan as a group, to enact without error and fear, can we save them!"

I looked over, and I can see Yamada was much more enthusiastic than I saw him. Looks like Shido's speech was working. Frankly, I'll admit, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little inspired by his words too. He had charisma. Something that sorta strengthened the hopes of all these broken people around me. Almost enthralled, if I say so myself. I'm not near that status, but at least Shido knew how to get morale up, if anything. Something told me that the promise of finding everyone's family's was somewhat shallow, and Shido knew it. I wasn't about to argue with him though. He seemed to be on a roll.

"As students of Fujimi Academy, it's during trying times like these that we must keep our pride! Take pride in the fact that we will not be forgotten like the rest of Fujimi Academy! We were the ones who had ingenuity to take a bus! Miyamoto-san and Komuro-kun did not fit in with the likes of us! Let's work together for our mutual survival!"

Most everyone else didn't seem to flinch at that proclamation, probably only hearing that last sentence. Hell, they were still looking on in awe of him. However... what he just said, _shocked me._ On one hand, was I proud that I was alive right now? Yes. Very much so. In fact, I already acknowledge that it sucks that most of the people at Fujimi Academy _will _be forgotten, but it's a damn unfortunate truth. His _glorifying _it, and his dismissal of Miyamoto and Komuro also took me off guard. Sure, it's their damn fault they're dead in a gutter or something, but... this seemed particularly harsh I looked on, with a bit of a puzzled expression on my face.

Shido seemed to take notice of me. His constant grin seemed to disappear, as he took a somewhat more concerned look towards me. I looked over beside me, and it didn't seem like Yamada was so enthralled by what he just said either.

"Ah, Ozaki-kun, Yamada-kun... I can tell you're still quite troubled at the moment. Given what's been going on with you since this morning, Ozaki-kun, I believe I can assume the hardships of yesterday's ordeal are still getting to you... what about you, Yamada-kun? What's troubling you?"

I found it weird how he was so quick to assume I was still shaken from that nightmare. I know that I still was to some degree, though his assumptions that I didn't find what he had just said _crazy_, was a bit... unnerving. I glanced over towards Yamada, who felt a tad uncomfortable that all eyes were on him. Understandable, I guess.

"I... I don't want to think that everyone's gonna be forgotten at Fujimi Academy. I mean, I had a bunch of friends, I don't want to be... insensitive, I want to try and honor their memory..."

Shido stared at Yamada with a bit of a sincere expression on his face, before closing his eyes and shaking his head in disapproval.

"Ah, but Yamada-kun... we must not cling to the past. All we can do as human beings is try to not fail where they did. It is imperative that we only look forward with optimism, lest we let the horrors of this past event to weigh down on us in the future. For our sakes, for everyone's sakes, we must look forward..."

Most of us were attentively looking towards Mr. Shido and Yamada, waiting for some kind of reply from either of them.

"If anything, we wouldn't want to let your friends down by _dying,_ after we came this far, no?"

Yamada sighed, before he looked up towards the teacher and nodded his head. Satisfied, Shido tousled his hair before drawing his attention to the rest of his students.

"Well, I suppose that's that now, isn't it?"

There was some occasional clapping at Mr. Shido's proclamation, mostly from Fumiko and Momo, but others too. Hell, I found myself doing it for a brief moment too. While it was hardly celebratory, I did still want to commend Shido for being something of a realist. Insensitive as he might be at times, we all knew he was something of a Darwinist anyway, so I wanted to let his eccentric beliefs slide; he seemed to have our survival as the utmost importance, and I would be happy with that.

The speech he gave was grand and all, but when things quieted down, all our eyes and ears then situated themselves on the group up front of the bus. When I looked at their group, I felt a bit disappointed that ever since we came onto this bus, they've isolated themselves away from us, in their own little group. It was unfortunate that being a team with them would undoubtedly be more difficult if they kept to themselves up there.

Shido himself then noticed, as he turned around.

"What's wrong, you guys? I thought we should be working together..."

I saw Takagi get up first, wearing a somewhat proud grin on her face as she glanced over at Shido. It made me raise a brow somewhat, though seeing a such a smug look on her face only reminded me of yesterday's confrontation. It annoyed me, but I sighed and waited for her to say what she was gonna say. Everyone around me seemed to perk up a bit, some of us standing to get a better look of what was going on.

"It's a bit embarrassing to say so, Shido-sensei, but we have our own goals. This isn't a school trip, so we don't have an obligation to stick around."

My eyes were raised in shock, as I found myself standing up, gripping the seat in front of me tightly. There were a lot of confused, and angered questions going on in my head. Who the hell does she think she is? Doe she actually think she and her friends can survive alone, outside of a group? As I thought through it, I noticed Tsunoda also standing up, himself containing his own rage even worse than I was.

"God damn it, that Takagi... selfish bitch, leaving us here?" he gritted through his teeth.

I frowned a bit, narrowing my eyes towards the group up ahead. I didn't argue with Tsunoda. He was right. Just what the hell were those guys up there thinking?

Shido looked on at the developing some in bemusement.

"Ah, is that so?" he calmly asked.

All of us, including the people at the front of the bus, had our eyes on him, awaiting some kind of objection or response. He looked at the leaving part in question, before brandishing a smirk and sighing.

"Well, I can see that you've already decided, so _please_, be my guest and do as you please, Takagi-san. Japan is a free country, after all!"

My brows raised at Shido's almost incredulous response. He wasn't gonna negotiate or anything? I thought we all had to work together or survival or something... Feeling somewhat unenthused about this anymore, I slunked back into my seat, observing the situation without as much interest in whatever the hell happens to them in the end.

Well, there was Takagi, the otaku Hirano, Busujima-senpai, and it looked like the nurse was going with them too. I guess I felt like I had to chalk up another four people from Fujimi Academy as dead. There might've been a lot of people around us at the moment, but who knows whatever they're planning. It likely wouldn't end well.

I could see Shido... smacking his lips or something, before sighing. He took a few steps closer towards the group up front.

"But... it would be bad, if you left Marikawa-sensei. In this situation, losing our nurse would be very problematic."

The nurse, Marikawa-sensei, looked at Shido, then all of us, in a state of shock, as if being caught between what to do. It seemed obvious though that she was inching towards her friends up there. She would be needed, yes, but... I didn't like this. Things would start to get bad, and I knew it.

"So how about it? Will you stay with us? There are a lot of students here who would be relying on you. In the event of an emergency, we would need..."

He was cut off by a loud, distinctive popping sound. A bunch of us looked kinda puzzled as we tried to figure out what it was. That's when I noticed that in the seat a couple rows ahead of me, Kurokami was jumping in his chair, flinching away from something. Then I noticed the blood start to drip down from Mr. Shido's cheek. What the hell just happened?

After a minute or so of silence, Kurokami eventually crawled back towards his seat and pulled something out from the cushion. His hand was trembling, and it was hard to get a good fix on what it was. Sure enough though, I was able to tell what it was: a nail.

"What the fuck...? What the _fuck_ is this...?"

I could hear Kurokami whimpering in a fearful and confused state, as he tossed the nail aside and looked forward.

Hirano had stepped in front of his group, with that nail gun of his aimed straight at Shido, and occasionally changing its sights on everyone else here.

"Hi... Hirano-kun?" Shido asked, visibly shaken by the display.

Hell, all of us were too. We stayed dead-silent, observing the situation with a newfound bit of fear. Hirano seemed like Mr. Nice Guy the other day, now here he is pointing a gun and seemingly threatening all of us.

"It wasn't that I missed you. I missed on purpose."

"Hirano-kun...! S-since when have you been so vio-"

The otaku stepped forward with his gun still fixated on Shido, causing him to conversely take a step back.

"How many of those corpses do you think I killed back at school? You know, you've always treated me like crap!"

He was practically yelling and screaming in his rants at this point towards Shido.

"How many times do you think I was bullied? And you didn't do a god damn _thing _about it! You have no idea how much I wanted to fight back... I restrained myself... I wanted to be normal..."

And in the midst of these proclamations I couldn't help but feel sympathetic, and deathly afraid of the guy at the same time. The way he sounded so maddening about being bullied here at school and shit was sad, but... it felt a bit hard to feel sorry for a guy who sounds like a deranged psychopath holding a gun up to you. I instinctively hid behind the chair in front of me for cover, if he ended up firing again. I could still hear the bastard yelling at Shido.

"I tried to be normal. But I don't need to do that anymore! Normality doesn't mean shit now! So... _I'll kill you._ I don't care if you're still alive, or one of _them_. I'll kill you anyway!"

I poked my head above the bus seat to further observe the developing situation. could see Momo and Fumiko starting to panic at this insanity, hugging each other as they ducked for cover behind their seats too. I poke my head up a little more to see Hirano gesturing towards his friends up there, as he kept his aim on Shido's head. One by one, the group up ahead that ended up saving us left the bus. Busujima-senpai, then Takagi, then Marikawa-sensei, to stopped the ignition of the bus's engine as she left. Hirano was the last one to leave, keeping that gun of his fixed on us at the last second as he backed away from us, slamming the bus door behind him as he headed off with his friends.

A lot of us watched through the windows, as we saw them heading off towards the walkways on the overhead bridge. Mr. Shido himself grabbed a cloth from his pocket to suppress the bleeding on his cheek.

The whole lot of us remained silent. It was a lot to take in. The group leaving. Hirano opening fire, and ranting like a madman. Even Shido looked visibly shaken. All of us didn't know what to make of seeing our leader like this.

I saw Momo get up from her seat leaning forward towards Mr. Shido.

"Sensei?" she softly asked, breaking the silence.

He didn't reply back, though all of us could hear that he was groaning in complete frustration, and possibly anger. He actually looked _pissed_ over everything that had just happened. I didn't blame him, but... it was very unnerving to see him actually angry over something. I had imagined he would've been able to keep his cool. Of course, we're only human, so maybe I'm expecting too much of him.

Momo sensed his anger, as she silently went back down in her seat alongside Fumiko.

We all watched Mr. Shido, until we could hear his agitated groaning subside. With a deep and heavy sigh, he removed the cloth from his bleeding cheek and gave us all a sincere look.

"Well! Now we're rid of those pests! I suppose we can continue on with our lives, then!"

He declared that in an instantly odd jovial tone. Fumiko and Momo smiled at the teacher's apparent change of mood. I think he noticed that we were watching him getting angry, and wanted to go back to his encouraging demeanor. In fact, it was almost humorous to watch him go from angry to cheery just like that.

While some people were satisfied with Shido going back to normal (or at least forcing himself so that his students wouldn't worry), I could see that others were still shaken by what had just transpired.

"Wow... t-that Hirano guy is one tough badass..." Kurokami weakly declared.

It was odd hearing that, because it seemed like typical praise, but at the same time he saying that in a very timid and scared manner. Understandable about the being afraid part, considering Hirano almost shot Kurokami when he missed hitting Shido, but at the same time, why the hell did he commend him like that?

I could tell, others were... less-than-praising of Hirano.

"God damn it! We just let them all get away?"

Tsunoda started shouting again, his anger starting to get the better of himself. I think he's now officially made himself known as the guy who yellsa lot. His presence was already starting to get the bus's population a bit uneasy again, like yesterday. Except now we don't have Miyamoto to kick his ass again.

"Why couldn't we just kill that fat fuck when we had the chance? Now those bastards ran away, our group just got smaller, and they took the nurse with them! Who the fuck do they think they are?"

I didn't feel like making an argument against the guy. Frankly, I agreed with him on some, and disagreed on others. However, I look back behind me and see that Yuuki had crawled up from behind him. I was surprised to see that orange-haired girl again, I had almost forgotten she existed on this bus. She's been pretty damn silent this whole time.

With that seductive smile of a harpy she had, she wrapped her arms around Tsunoda's neck.

"Jeez baby, you've got to calm down some... it ain't right if you're just yelling and screaming all over the place... look, you're scaring the girls over there. That's not a gentleman-ike thing to do, you know..."

Tsunoda was very caught off-guard. In fact, the look on his face would've been hilarious if we weren't in such a dramatically serious situation. He didn't exactly look like he minded his predicament at all, though he still shrugged Yuuki off of his shoulders. Looking back at Fumiko and Momo, they did seem somewhat shocked when Tsunoda was yelling, but Yuuki's oppurtune interruption lightened the mood a bit and eased their fears. Momo, Fumiko, Kurokami, and Yamada were all starting to laugh lightly at the scene.

"D-damn it, let go of me..." he meekly replied.

Our current scene now seemed like a stark contrast to what had just happened minutes ago.

"Well, whatever you say, Tsunoda-kun... just calm the hell down, and we'll be fine, alright?"

Yuuki gave off a bit of a giggle as she tousled Tsunoda's hair. Satisfied, she then gave him a quick peck on the cheek and went back to her seat in the furthest row. The look on Tsunoda's now blushing face was fucking classic, though now I could start to feel that that was the thing I paid attention to the least. Now I was starting to glance back at Yuuki... she gave me this smug grin of hers, before winking, which was starting to creep me out a bit.

"Jealous, Ozaki-kun?"

She wasn't saying out loud from halfway across the bus from me. But she said it faintly. Hell, she could be _mouthing it_, but at the same time, I could just hear her, in that voice of hers, saying that to me.

"Hell no..."

Yuuki cocked her head at my response, then let out a silent giggle. At least she might've been silent; it was echoing in my own head at the moment. I wasn't jealous. I was creeped the fuck out that Yuuki was already on her way trying to seduce some other poor bastard. The wench can't even wait a day after every other male died in the academy, so she turns her sights on us. And something tells me Tsunoda doesn't mind a bit.

Shaking my head, I turned forward and slunked in my chair.

"Enough!"

All of us looked forward and saw Mr. Shido, still brandishing a cheery smile to keep some hopes up.

"Miku-san, I appreciate you trying to lighten the mood for all of us. However, despite what angers we may be feeling right now in light of those unfortunate souls who chose to leave us, we must put this situation behind us. Remember what I said earlier: We must continue to keep moving forward."

Mr. Shido calmly walked over to inspect the driver's seat of the bus, while all of us started to try and chat with one another, mostly about the brazen display Yuuki exhibited earlier. Hell, I could already see a somewhat flushed-looking Tsunoda already talking to her. If I didn't know how much of a manipulative bitch Yuuki was, I would've thought it to be almost cute.

I heard the bus's engine restart, and all its functions sprang to life. At least Marikawa-sensei was courteous enough to leave the keys with us. Shido grinned slightly, as he tried to fiddle with the radio on the bus. Most of it was just garbled incoherent static and some chatter-off hand, but it was nice that he considered trying to get some ambiance to continue our social distractions.

"We must worry about ourselves, should we want to survive. With them out of the way, our tale starts now. Whatever obstacles they may meet, is their problem. Indeed... You know how the song goes: _Live and Let Die_..."


	7. Hanging Together

_Act 7: Hanging Together_

It's been a couple hours since that incident earlier, with the other guys from Fujimi Academy. Part of me feels a pang of guilt for thinking so, but things have been looking a bit brighter for us since they left. It feels even more fucked up to say this, but I still can't help but feel that it's good riddance. They were all a nuisance... Takagi especially. In fact, _just _Takagi leaving would've been good. That self-righteousness of hers seemed to make her want to pick a fight with everyone she encountered that wasn't supposed to already be her friend. Keeping Marikawa-sensei, and especially Busujima-senpai would've helped raise our chances of survival exponentially. But now that that's brought up, the actual concept of_ survival _hasn't brought up for a while. Maybe except for Kurokami, but the way he expresses his worry sounds like the words of a rather mad-sounding hypochondriac. I swear, he made some kind of reference, if not him just outright quotation a zombie movie. Thus, people are inclined to ignore his worries until he piped down.

Yep, this is the life.

For now, the practical definition of survival has been put aside. What has been the focus of our group since the others left, was our _studies_. Mr. Shido's seemingly done his best to try and replicate some form of a normal life while he drove the minibus. It's amazing to see the dedication he has to us as a teacher. At first it seemed a bit silly to me that he wanted his students to recollect yesterday morning's studies, but it sorta just clicked and made sense over time. I mean, we're all just... teenagers, I guess. We're not used to this sort of stress, pressure, and whatnot about the end of the world, and the undead... so it gives us a nice distraction, for now. Certainly a nice change of pace from yesterday's _hell and back_ run that I had to go through.

Damn, I still get shivers looking back on that.

But anyway, everyone is socializing a bit better, and the others were even nice enough to fill me in on what the lesson plan's been, since I'm not from Class 3-A. For the first time since before the disaster began, I was actually feeling some sort of emotion that paralleled happiness. I don't think it's supposed to be possible to be _happy_ during this horrific ordeal, but I feel like I'm somewhere close. Best of all, it got me closer to Fumiko of all things. Under the guise of trying to learn a lesson plan from the one who knew Shido's teachings the best, I moved up a couple rows to try and talk to her. Hey, I'm feeling some sort of weird happiness right now, so I felt like I might as well make some sort of gutsy move.

My mind wanders towards a short conversation I had with Yamada earlier about how I didn't care much for distractions. He even tried to envy me for being able to be distracted and catch myself up in things that didn't have to do with survival, but then I dismissed him saying distractions were cheap... As much as I get this constant nagging feeling in the back of my mind, I know that I at least feel thankful to some degree that I don't lose myself to this insanity, and was able to indulge in distractions with the others. I feel hypocritical now, and am almost feeling guilty for it. Almost.

"Shio-kun? Did you get all of that?"

I find my thoughts being interrupted as I glance up to see Fumiko, staring at me intently. Not the way I'd like, more so that she was just quizically examining me. She must be getting tired of me spacing out. With how many times Fumiko just drags me back into the real world, it's sort of her unofficial job by now.

"You didn't get a single thing I said, did you?"

I feel like I'm in deep shit in that moment. I nervously scratch the back of my head, trying to recollect everything she told me before I started spacing out. As she watches me, Fumiko sighs, shaking her head. The girl placed a hand on her forehead, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Hey, don't blame me... There have been times where you just assumed that I know certain things right off the bat. I didn't start in Class 3-A, remember? Your curriculum is a bit.. different."

I raise up my hands, kinda defensively. Fumiko's face softens a bit, though I could tell she still looked pretty skeptical. And I'll be honest, I know that her skepticism wasn't misplaced; there are some parts of her "lesson plan" that I could barely even recall, though maybe I could bluff her with what I could remember.

"You were talking about genealogy, and the structure behind how we inherit certain traits from our parents through certain Genotypes, right? Like eye color."

Fumiko shakes her head again, a look of disappointment on her face. She didn't seem to be genuinely upset, though at least a bit frustrated.

"_Phenotypes_, Toshio... phenotypes. What you just said, genotypes are... well, what we inherit from our parents, yes, but they don't _always_ go into our personal appearance. Stuff like our eye color, or traits you can visually see, _those _are Phenotypes."

"Close enough, right? Some genotypes get used as phenotypes, and that determines what we look like anyway?"

I shrug my shoulders, trying to defend myself. A few moments pass, and Fumiko didn't really look like she bought it. All I can see is a (seemingly) sarcastic look of exhasperation on her face. I can't tell whether or not I said something wrong, but the scrunched-up look on her face still kinda brought a smile on my face. She's either genuinely frustrated trying to teach me, or she has too much pride to lose this conversation just yet.

To be honest, even though I was bugging her, it's always still kinda cute just teasing her, even if my confusion on the subject matter is genuine.

With a huff, and the adjustment of her glasses, Fumiko eventually nodded her head.

"Yes, I guess so. You _are _close, but knowing the difference is still necessary. Still, it looks like you're at least learning..."

Perhaps I should feel bad that she resigned, but it's not my fault that she happens to give in, easily. At least to me, anyway. And somehow, her admitting me being right for a change seemed like a sweet victory. Even if I initially fucked up the definitions of phenotypes and genotypes.

Heh, like I'd ever need this knowledge at a later time. Judging by the way the world was going around me, just learning this stuff was a mere peaceful distraction.

Up at the front of the bus, I see Tsunoda and Mr. Shido having some sort of heated discussion. Kurokami was also there, looking like he was waiting to interject for whatever reason. With Miku not embracing Tsunoda to distract him and Kurokami putting about his usual paranoid face, I could tell that the two must've been talking to the teacher about something a bit more serious than the lesson plans.

I look over at Fumiko, who was doing about a somewhat concerned look. Not wanting to make eye contact with her, I instead try to immerse myself in a thing called _reality,_ glancing over through the windows to take a peek at the outside world.

Surely enough, it's still just as crappy as I remember it. Refugees are still walking alongside the huge convoy of traffic. Everything got so crowded at one point that the police basically just made half of the people fleeing the apocalypse (including us) take one hell of a detour so that the police could probably regulate the flow of people a bit easier. I know by now that our current agenda is that we need to get to Onbetsu Bridge to get to the eastern part of downtown. I can hope that based on the authorities herding us there, there's an effort to evacuate. But because of this damn detour, I wouldn't be surprised being stuck in here for days. I shake my head, trying to distract myself again. The truth hurts, but I know I have to at least accept it sooner or later.

I try to take further note of my surroundings, and from what I could tell, I was able to occasionally see brief glimpses of men in whole uniform and helmets, brandishing rifles and stuff. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise to me in hindsight, though the fact that shit has gotten so bad that the guys from the SDF and military have to intervene is still worrying. I can only hope that that means they're gonna get this under control now.

At least the cars were moving faster, just a bit more than what they have been for the past couple hours. The cars actually have a little breathing room around them, so I guess it helps ease the worry of constantly ramming bumpers with cars behind and ahead of us. If this all lasts, it might just stave off the longer route we need to take.

Somehow I could feel Fumiko's eyes watching me as I looked outside the window. I knew it because when someone's being watched by another person, there's this weird sense of pressure weighing on their shoulders.

"Toshio? Is something wrong?"

Well, lots of things. Just how _wrong_ certain things seem... are varying in my mind at the moment. I wave a hand at her, dismissing her worries. Quick to avoid a conversation that would probably crush her apparent blissful ignorance to the end of the world around us, I look for something else that could occupy my mind. I notice that Tsunoda, Kurokami, and Mr. Shido are still talking to each other, so I feel that's as interesting and good a lead as any.

"I just wanna see what's bugging those guys up there, I'll be back."

Fumiko herself looked towards the front of the bus also, and she seemed curious as well. I guess that was the green light for me to go ahead and see what was up.

As I approach the the debate up ahead, I start to get a more clear glimpse at what the fuss was about. The exchange between those three was hardly small-talk, or some scientific seminar on genotypes. All I really needed to hear was the tones of voice being used in the conversation. Frankly I'm surprised they haven't gotten the whole bus's attention.

"I don't like this, Shido. Not one bit. Are we just abandoning our safety then?"

"Now, now. It isn't always wise to object to the leader's decisions... However, your concern is noted. I can assure you, Kurokami-kun, Maruyama-kun, that this is the right decision, for all of us."

I listened in, and I started to get a clearer picture of what was being discussed. Frankly, I know that the whole 'ignorance is bliss' deal is good and all, but from what I manage to hear from Kurokami and Tsunoda, I feel a bit relieved but possibly afraid that those two are attempting to use their heads now, for whatever purpose. In the stead of Shido's response, Kurokami shook his head rather spastically, while Tsunoda just had a tense look of discomfort on his face. By contrast, Mr. Shido seemed to look as calm as ever while he was driving the bus. However, what's most surprising to me was the fact that there now seems to be some disagreement on Shido's decisions. There used to be unanimous agreement every time he said something. Kurokami meekly scratches his head, unsure of himself.

"...are you sure, Shido-sensei?"

"There are many... risks involved in staying here, being herded by the authorities with other refugees in such mass numbers. How can we escape if there comes another unfortuitous... _situation _like what happened in Fujimi Academy? That should prove to be a valid example of what happens when a panicked herd can come into _complete chaos._"

He responds without hesitation. Mr. Shido looks over his shoulder from the driver's seat, and the first thing I see from him is a rather serious glare. I can't quite grasp its meaning, though I can't tell if it's a threat, or just a warning to how seemingly severe the scenario at hand must be. He presumably intended that glare for Tsunoda and Kurokami, though he apparently noticed me first. At that realization, his features soften a bit as he composes himself. For a minute he appears to staring at me, as if I had something to say. For some reason I didn't feel well enough to say anything in protest of either party. After a moment, Shido averts his gaze as he looks over at the other two guys, who don't really seem to notice me at all.

"This doesn't seem right though. There's police and military guys everywhere, so why the hell won't we be staying here?"

Tsunoda attempts to give off another argumentative line. Shido merely shakes his head, looking somewhat disappointed.

"The people here are getting restless. They're desperate to leave and get to Onbetsu Bridge. And the authorities seem to do a mediocre job in instilling a sense of security in these masses. Think about it. How can we rely on the authorities to protect us, if they can't maintain a decisive hold on the _civil_ disturbances, let alone those caused by the monsters we flee from? These large, panicked masses will slowly become a threat to us as well, if they're not careful. There was a rather barbaric free-for-all in your own school, no less. What do you propose we do if those creatures set their sights on all these refugees, hmm?"

Shido waits for a few minutes, to allow all that information to sink in. He then decisively shakes his head and shrugs, feeling he's finally gotten his point into his students' heads.

"At the very least, wouldn't you say there is a distinct advantage in a smaller, more organized group, Maruyama-kun? Sometimes it is of course much more practical to rely on our own superior intuition instead of being weighed down by this chaff around us."

I found his use of the word "_chaff_" to be fairly odd, though nobody seemed to take note of that. Tsunoda froze for a moment, as if trying to think of a sort of comeback or retort to Shido's rather well-made argument, but he ended up looking like he came up a bit short. Kurokami didn't seem to pay much attention to what just happened, as he instead took the opportunity to notice that I exist. He let off a small grin and gave me gave a rather sheepish wave in my direction. At least the guy's being friendly. Shido redirected his attention back to me, now taking a bit more interest in my presence.

"Ah, Ozaki-kun. Perhaps it would give us some insight if we had a fourth opinion. Tell me, what are your thoughts on this?"

I don't really like being dragged into debates, though I guess I should have seen it coming since I was just observing them not too far away. Anyway, my mind tries to go over what to say. Sure, both arguments seem logical, I guess... Then again I don't even know if I've heard the whole story; all I know is that Shido apparently wants to leave this flow of refugees, to go do something else... whatever the hell it is. I suppose understandably so, the other two are currently arguing that staying here with everyone is safer.

After a couple moments of me being in the hot-seat, I finally come to a conclusion. I feel inclined to agree with Shido, for a number of reasons. For starters, if we stay, we're likely gonna still be here for possibly several _days _with how many people there are here, and the authorities lack of effective organization. And memories of Fujimi Academy, seeing _them_ assaulting an unsuspecting high school just gives me a sense of unease. I'd hate to actually be here in case that happens again to these poor souls all around us. Second, I get this weird impression from Mr. Shido... that he is _not_ someone you really want to disagree with. Just a gut-feeling. Lastly, I feel as though I should probably get as much into this guy's good graces as I can, because frankly, I'm still the new-guy here. I'm not sure if Shido trusts me as much as his other students, because after all, he's been around everyone on this bus for a little over a year now. And if I'm feeling just a _little _bit optimistic, getting in his good graces probably might mean getting closer to Fumiko's good graces too. It might sound selfish, but at least the last bit is only a mere _part _of my motivation.

"I think Shido-sensei has a point... We're probably as susceptible to danger here as much as anywhere else... plus, I know that if this place goes into chaos, we'll have these hundreds, maybe even thousands of people all panicking at once. It was bad enough we had to see that in Fujimi Academy... it was a complete and utter hell... I think it's better if we could stay as a smaller group, for now. We can wait for things to simmer down before things with all these masses get out of hand."

There. I said it. To be honest, I had looked over pros and cons to this plan of his in my mind, but frankly I just tried to sound appealing and state only what was good. Sure enough, it looks like that's all that Mr. Shido needed to hear. Satisfied, he waved his hand towards Kurokami and Tsunoda, dismissing the both of them. With a shrug of their shoulders, they nonchalantly walked back over to their seats, looking as if they didn't feel too heartened by their opinions anyway. With a sigh, I decide to go back over to seat myself again. However, that notion was interrupted as I start to hear what sounds like someone clapping their hands lightly behind me.

"I appreciate your assistance in that predicament, Ozaki-kun. I have heard much about you from Kawamura-san, and it indeed appears that her trust in you is not misplaced."

The moment people hear a phrase that sounds something along the lines of, '_I have heard much about you, from X'_ that almost always seems like bait for that person to ask, '_What did they say about me?' _And I guess it still works. I look further down the bus, and see Fumiko busily chatting with Momo about something. At least if I'm talking to Mr. Shido about her, she's adequately distracted enough not to sneak up on me, or eavesdrop in on our conversation.

"So... what did she say about me?"

Shido chuckles a bit, as if he was expecting that reply out of me. Predictable...

"Well, she does note you're a very trustworthy, respectable person. As well as you being rather loyal and dedicated to your goals. And I must say, if you truly went through what you did just to find Kawamura-san throughout that horrific ordeal at the Academy, then that truly speaks volumes of how admirable your character is, Ozaki-kun."

I feel inclined to say that possessing an _admirable character _isn't the best choice of words to describe me. But I certainly don't mind the praise, and it does make me feel better about my choices to some degree. I simply nod my head in response.

"Thank you, Shido-sensei."

I don't know whether or not he was done talking, but I feel like I've heard enough for now. I walk off back towards where the rest of my peers were sitting around in.

Around the area, I could see little conversations and activities going about... looks like Yuuki was talking to Tsunoda and Yamada, though the latter seemed... adequately creeped out by her. Yamada seems like a pretty straight-laced guy, so I could imagine anything that comes out of Yuuki's mouth would be a bit of a shocker for him. The sight is pretty amusing in itself, and I can't help but hold back a chuckle.

I look back at the front of the bus and see that Shido has managed to find an exit to get out of this thick rut of traffic. As the bus started to move slightly faster (but probably faster than it had been going all day), Mr. Shido was halted by a man dressed in police uniform. But he didn't seem much of a hindrance, as Shido stopped to say some things to him, and the officer let us go. I wonder what Shido said to him... I guess it didn't matter, anyway.

Glancing at the column of seats opposite Yuuki and co's own, I see that Kurokami is by himself. I see him writing or sketching something on a note pad, though he doesn't look too into whatever he's doing. I might as well chat with him. I actually look forward to probably making new friends on this bus, outside of just talking with Fumiko. Everyone seems like a nice enough crowd, anyway...

I take a seat in the row right in front of him.

"Hey, Kurokami."

The dark-haired guy looks up from his note pad, acknowledging my presence.

"Oh, hey Ozaki..."

He nonchalantly lowers his focus back on the note pad. Quite honestly, this was the first time I directly looked into his eyes at a close distance, and the fact that his pupils seem a bit more dilated than most normal human eyes was... unnerving, to say the least. It doesn't really give him much of a good vibe... I wonder if the others on the bus have noticed.

The silence is uncomfortable, and I feel that this conversation could get pretty wooden, pretty fast.

"So, what are you writing on that pad? Anything interesting?"

Kurokami glanced back up and gave me a rather quizzical look. He squinted a bit as he leaned forward, as if trying to gauge the intent of my question. Never thought that such a simple query would result in this odd gesture.

"I'm making a list of things... things we'll probably need down the road. Since Mr. Shido won't listen to me and Tsunoda, perhaps we can make the best of this situation since we're going out... somewhere."

I raised my brow. What the hell is he listing, and what did Kurokami have in mind? What was there to make the best of? And for that matter, it also raises the question of just where the hell Shido planned on driving this bus. For now, I suppose my brain can only handle so much, so I'll get my answer to the questions one by one...

"Here, can I see that list of yours?"

That didn't really come out as a question, so much as it did a warning. I instinctively took the list from Kurokami's hands before he could manage a reply, but he didn't really seem to mind anyway. As I read the first few , I noticed that Kurokami's handwriting was... fairly erratic. The kanji looks like it was hastily scrawled, but at least readable.

_Canned and Dry Foods_

_Water_

_Bleach_

_Matches_

_First-Aid and Medical Tools_

_Flashlights_

_Crowbar_

_Radio..._

I keep reading, and notice that he's got one hell of a list. It's a seemingly random assortment of things, though it takes me a moment to realize where he's to be going with all this.

"What is all this?"

"It's a list of survival stuff we'll need... I ain't gonna be too comfortable living the rest of my life in this bus until we've at least got the essentials. Haven't you read any zombie survival shit? What you don't know, _can eat you_."

I find myself cringing at the sound of the word _zombie. _I recall back during my brief time hanging around Morita, and his apparent dislike for the word. I guess I've been subconciously eliminating that word out of my own head, calling those undead guys just... _them _this whole time. Yet, _'them' _seems like another movie cliche entirely.

I shake the thought from my head. This isn't a time to think about old friends. Anyway, I look at the list again, now making sense out of these words.

"So... you're getting ready to prepare, I guess? What makes you think Shido would be so... willing to run around to get this stuff? I dunno what he's got in mind, but it'll take some time, plus Shido's already given me the impression that we're avoiding all these undead as much as we can anyway."

"Okay then, we'll just live on this bus without food for the next week. I'm sure everything will be fine and dandy."

The icy sarcasm stung a bit, but Kurokami did have a valid point. I know that I haven't eaten a thing all day today, _and yesterday _since the attack began at the academy. I was rushing to class and never got to eat breakfast then... And I'm pretty sure nobody brought anything on this bus, let alone some food. Maybe we've all somehow been able to ignore simple hunger... but now that he mentions it, I'm now afraid that I'll immediately react with a growling stomach, or sudden pains due to not thinking about it earlier. Distraction of the mind is a fickle thing. Damn you, Kurokami.

"So... I guess you're really into zombies and stuff, huh?"

I do my best to try and make some small-talk with him, and maybe just to instinctively avert any feelings of hunger. Kurokami glanced back at me as he takes back his note pad.

"Oh... well, I guess so. Maybe I just like movies and video games in general, though zombie ones I've always liked too. But... I guess even the most basic geeky person has looked up _something _on how to survive an apocalypse. Zombie apocalypse, robot apocalypse, nuclear apocalypse, and the like... haven't you at least been curious of something weird like that before? Games and stuff can do that to you."

Huh. So Kurokami is one of _those _people. Not that I can particularly blame him, I've been curious myself. But I'm not really obsessed enough to be an Otaku for it, and I always thought thought that it was just baseless hypothesis on how to deal with a fictional situation. Heh, and look at us now. How fictional did _this _turn out?

"Besides, I already watched enough monster movies to know how all this shit works out, so I'm sure everyone here will be alright. After we lose the first victim of course, then we all have to learn from his or her stupidity and become stronger for it."

I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking on that last bit... and to be quite honest, that was a little unnerving. The thought him thinking of this as just a big movie or video game doesn't seem rational. I guess I'll just give Kurokami the benefit of the doubt and believe he's making a good-hearted jab at movies and not insinuating anything serious. If anything, the list looks serious enough that it's actually got a bunch of useful things all over it for our real-life survival.

Kurokami keeps looking over that list. He now had some sort of new idea and instantly began writing it down. I can't read the emotions on this face this time, as his head was down and his thick dark hair obscures his face. It still left me hanging on whether or not his earlier joke was serious. I decide to keep moving the conversation.

"Well, okay then... you plan on showing that to Shido-sensei eventually? I don't know if he has any pit-stops in mind... then again, I still have no idea what he actually has in mind anyway."

"Maybe you should've asked him that before you readily agreed leaving the refugee trafficking."

That stung pretty badly. I have no idea what Tsunoda thinks still, but it's obvious that Kurokami evidently... disapproves of my backing of Shido. I decide to try and think of my own appropriate comeback to defend myself.

"Well, we'd be staying there for maybe a few more days, and I doubt the cops were handing out free food to thousands of people at once. We _could've _starved. At least this way we have the option to scavenge or something. Plus, if we stayed there, we wouldn't get to put to use that list of yours now, would we?"

Those words seem like they hit the spot. Already Kurokami is a bit caught off-guard, and he struggles for a way to retort. Oddly enough, me talking back to him looked like it was enough to slightly intimidate him. His dilated eyes erratically looked back and forth at me and his own list, as if trying to manage an answer. Eventually, I suppose that dark-hair's mind came to some sort of conclusion as he nodded his head.

"Uh huh. Touche."

Hmm. So I guess that's that then. It's strange how Kurokami seems to make anything he does rather dramatic. I'm a little surprised that he gave up so soon, but given how my input on the earlier situation between Mr. Shido, Tsunoda, and Kurokami, the latter must not be entirely good at keeping up arguments.

I watch as Kurokami wordlessly goes up to the front of the bus and takes his list over to Shido. I'm personally not expecting Shido to take the note as seriously as Kurokami does, but it's something to consider. Not paying their conversation any note, I look outside the windows of our bus.

It's getting dark again. The sun was past set, and what little light that's now shining through the horizon is slowly fading. Soon enough, all we'd have is just the moonlight and maybe some odd lamp post still working that'll give us any sort of direction in this darkness.

Looking back, it was a rather hectic and dramatic day in the bus, and I guess I shouldn't expect anything less than that. We're facing the possible end of the world after all, and we're simply doing our best to cope with it. Maybe it was worth it that those other guys left us, since they're dealing with the situation their own way. I can only hope that those bastards will manage to survive in this environment, God knowing what the odds of that are... except Saya, that bitch...

I start to focus less on the recent events and more on what I see now. Looking at Tokonosu City so desolate, dark, and dreary is an unreal experience, to be honest.

There goes the old ramen shop I used to eat at with Morita, Fumiko, and everyone else I knew.

And there's the arcade I used to go to during weekends. They even had a batting cage out back that was real nice... wouldn't have made it to where I am now in baseball without it.

Now I see that... sports shop I was just at a few days ago with Fumiko and Momo... the place I... I had that nightmare.

God damn it. Looking at the city never made me feel so nostalgic, but looking at its dark dreariness, the occasional bloodstain, broken in windows, and sometimes even a _corpse _next to all these places I went at was simply depressing. And even more nauseating, I couldn't tell whether not those were _corpses,_ or just more of _them_... lying in wait, or sleeping, or something. Do the undead even sleep?

What a fucking stupid question to ask at a time like this.

My mind zigzagged back and forth between wondering what to focus my mind on, but no matter what I did I just seemed to be focusing on either different questions, dwelling on depressing points, or simply just making my head hurt for reasons I can't even being to think about yet.

Thankfully, I feel something not right in the real world, breaking me out of that mental clusterfuck... the bus actually slowed to a halt. And Shido wasn't slowing down to make a turn, he _parked the bus _where it now stood. Now I'm wondering whether or not I should be thankful for this getting me out of my weird state-of-mind.

I look up and see Mr. Shido out of the driver's seat, walking towards us all. A numerous many of us looked somewhat puzzled, except Kurokami, who had a rather confident, optimistic look on his face. Oh shit, don't tell me Shido actually agreed with that guy's plan and we're doing it _now _of all times...

"Attention, class..."

He's addressing us as a class still, huh? I guess it fits with him still treating us as such and making us go over genealogy earlier.

"I know that many of you must be rather worried of our predicament. As the situation stands, it has come to my attention that we currently lack the proper supplies and materials essential for our survival, here on this moving haven of ours... food, water, and whatever necessary tools we may need on our way."

Great way to tell everyone you forgot eating is necessary to live, Sensei.

"...And it appears that Kurokami-kun has graciously come up with a detailed list of what will most definitely aid us in our coming days as we brace for these storms. So then, it appears that at this moment, we'll be conducting a bit of our own little hunting and gathering operation. If you'll look outside our windows, you'll see we're in the vicinity of a small, outdoor mall. We shall be scavenging what's left of this desolate place, so that it may find newfound use among our group."

I look around me and see everyone's interest is genuinely piqued, as they all look forward towards Shido with their undivided attention. Especially Fumiko and Momo. I guess I shouldn't be surprised on that note.

"So then... I would appreciate if I could get some volunteers to partake in this event. Think of it as a... bit of an exercise that can promote synergy among our ranks."

Kurokami raises his hand after Shido's declaration, as if to become the first volunteer. The look on the dark-hair's face was almost comical, a mix between bravado, and at the same time a bit paranoid. No doubt wondering about the fact that this might be a particularly dangerous mission he just brought up.

Upon seeing his volunteering, I see Fumiko, Momo, and Yuuki all clapping their hands in response. Shido smiled at the gesture and started clapping himself. The girls' awe that was typically directed towards Shido whenever he was about to say some impassioned words was temporarily directed towards Kurokami, so I guess they were commending him on his bravery or some shit. The fact he still looked nervous as ever was almost comical.

Then I see Fumiko stopping in the middle of her clapping, and looking over her shoulder to see me. She looks me in the eyes for a couple seconds, this little glint in her own. I think I knew that she was expecting me to do the same as Kurokami and volunteer for this little operation of ours.

I stand up without thought. Maybe not the best move...

Everyone's attention now is focused on me, as the girls all applaud and make me feel like some kind of celebrity for five seconds. To be honest, it felt good enough to have Fumiko give me that look she sometimes gives Shido that it _almost _seemed worth volunteering myself. Almost.

"Ah, Ozaki-kun, you too, eh? Well then, I feel I can trust you to this group's welfare in bringing back what we need... It's brave of you to do so, almost as brave as your previous exploits upon trying to find us..."

Now Shido was using a bit more flattery to try and soften me a bit more. This might've worked earlier, though this time it felt short. The only thing that kinda boosted my ego a bit was the girls' own approval for my situation, and even then I knew the feeling would soon dissipate.

Somewhat satisfied as the clapping died down, Mr. Shido went off to the only two remaining guys in the bus, Yamada and Tsunoda, both of them looking like they were not enthusiastic at all to go on with this.

"I suppose one more man will do. Well then, would either of you two gentlemen also volunteer? It would be quite unbecoming for us if you made one of the ladies go out there to do this dirty work."

The girls probably feel flattered at that line, thinking Mr. Shido was a gentleman. I probably feel a bit pissed because he inadvertantly told me and Kurokami we're essentially doing his own dirty work. I'm not sure whether that slip-of-the-tongue was intentional or not, but it makes me feel uneasy.

Looking back at the two guys, the first-year and the third-year were both trying to gesture towards the other, almost comically trying to get the other to go in their stead. Yamada seems like a timid guy from looks alone, though it's kinda funny knowing Tsunoda's probably the biggest guy here, and looked the toughest. Then again, toughness didn't seem to work anything for him when Miyamoto jabbed that staff-thing of hers into his stomach, and he was nearly passed out on the ground from pain. If I ever piss him off, I should probably take note of his weak point.

Eventually, Tsunoda gets fed up with trying to argue with Yamada and shoves him, quickly standing up after that. His face looked like it was very agitated, and he seemed more like he was acting out of frustration than making any definitive choice.

"Fine, if you're too much of a pussy to go, then I'll go. I'm saving your ass, now. Happy?"

Shido doesn't pay any heed towards Tsunoda insulting Yamada, as he clasps his hands together in satisfaction.

"Well then, I suppose this makes you our heroes, now. Going off into the unknown, gathering our supplies, so we live to thrive another day. It seems not unlike and Epic tale about to unfold, no?"

Those remaining to stay on the bus clapped their hands again, even Yamada, as they were probably thankful it wasn't them going out. Still, when I looked at most everyone's faces, I could tell there was some genuine optimism and even concern over our well-beings. I wonder what that's supposed to spell out for us going outside.

Shido gestured towards us to follow him. There's no going back now, so I oblige, leading the two behind me. We were now right at the front, and when I saw the bus doors open, I felt this distinct chilly breeze walking in, as if further heralding this is _not _a good idea. I look over my shoulder back towards Kurokami and Tsunoda. The former still looked as jittery as ever, and the latter just seemed disgruntled about his disposition. Further back, I look towards everyone else seated back in the bus. Fumiko was still looking at me.

As if noting the apparent anxiety that must be riddled all over my face, Fumiko smiled and mouthed something unintelligible. I dunno what she said from where I was standing, but... I just wanted to think that she was saying, _I believe in you. _

If anything, those would probably be the magic words of encouragement to get me through this.

My happy thoughts are interrupted when I feel a sharp kick to my back, and I stumble out of the bus, onto the outside's pavement. I manage to land on my feet without problem, but I bitterly look at the son of a bitch who kicked me out. Tsunoda's glare awaited me, with that same damn look of annoyance on his face. Grumbling something under his breath, he walks out of the bus, with Kurokami following right behind him.

"The fuck was that for?"

"This isn't a time to get all romantic and shit. We've got work to do."

I feel myself clench a fist, though it quickly waned when I realized how futile getting into a fight with him would be. Especially now of all times. I decide to focus my mind back on the shit that we're actually supposed to do.

"Kurokami, where do you think we're gonna find this stuff on your list?"

The dark-haired guy looked through and through his list, trying to find a place to start. Then he looks all around him, noting the different establishments that were scattered around nearby. The chillingly dark night sky was only offset by our bus's headlights, and some lamp posts that still were functioning and lighting up some streets and ways.

"Well, it's an outdoor mall, so I imagine we'll find everything we need here from food to flashlights and stuff... considering people haven't already scavenged and picked this place clean."

Wait, what?

"So you're telling me there's possibly nothing here for us?"

Kurokami places a hand on his chin, as if trying to think like a detective on this whole matter. The fact he actually needs to _stop to think_ worries me.

"Only if people were as smart as us, then maybe. But when shit like zombie apocalypses happen, people lose their cool under pressure. It's like people are a bunch of animals: spook one in a herd, you spook the whole herd... movies and shit aren't so different in that regard. And we've still got our cool, if I say so myself. So... I dunno if we're gonna be kickass zombie hunters any time soon, but we're at least gonna be survivors of this shit. And that's good enough for me."

I take that information with a grain of salt. There goes Fumiko's words of encouragement...

"Are you ladies gonna stand over there all night, or what? Move your ass!"

Tsunoda was just a couple octaves short of yelling, something I want to punch him in the face really fucking hard for. If there are any zombies lying around, then his yelling is like a dinner bell to signal them to eat us alive...

I hear the snapping of fingers behind us, and look back towards Shido who was still at the bus doors.

"I would recommend that you move with haste. Time's a wasting... as they say."

With that, Shido closes the bus's doors. I can still see several of the passengers still looking at us through the windows. I'm wondering how they're all taking the fact that we're essentially kicked out for a time to scavenge for supplies in the dark with no weapons or ways to defend ourselves whatsoever.

I take one last glance a particular window, to see Fumiko waving at me. I end up instinctively waving back.

"It's amazing how much you kiss your girl's ass, Ozaki."

I quickly turn around and see Tsunoda, once again being antagonistic towards me. I wanted to really hit him, for a number of reasons at this point, but I didn't want to start anything, not when we had legitimately important things to do.

"What's your problem, anyway?"

The blonde third-year kept moving along, his facial expression looking like it was simmering down. He looked less annoyed now, and a much more solemn, grim expression took place.

"If we die Ozaki, this is your fault, and Kurokami's too."

"What?"

"You convinced Shido to leave all the police and everyone behind, so now we're just alone again. And Kurokami comes up with a scheme to get us supplies, possibly in a pretty fucking dangerous position."

Great, now Tsunoda hates me. Just what I needed, someone other than Takagi-bitch to hate me.

"So what does that make us now, enemies?"

"I dunno about all that, but... if you keep this shit up, I think we'll be pretty fucking close to that."

I feel some odd light smack at the back of my head, and I immediately presume it's Tsunoda. However, I hear the same sound again, and that guy's now cursing under his breath in pain.

"Both of you are idiots. You know that, right?"

Kurokami shook his head, trying to go over things.

"If this kept up, this'd be the part of the movie where the two guys can't get their shit together, and then zombies come in and eat one of you, causing the other much grief they let the other person die on a sad note. And I _hate _cliches, so I'm not about to let this happen to you guys. Get your act together, and come on. We've got stuff to do."

And thus, the dark-hair headed off towards the nearest little grocery mart, presumably to start scavenging for food.

Tsunoda and I wordlessly glance over at each other and nod. With a sigh, I briefly extend my arm to shake his hand. He immediately complies, and we head off to follow Kurokami.

I think I might've made my fair share of enemies today... one of them's gone now, and there's still one more right next to me... one's already too many. But I guess I'm thankful some movie-nut over here is able to keep us from ripping each other's throats out, and getting us focused on a single goal. It's better if we focus on the peril of undead apocalypse, than focus on the peril of getting on each other's nerves.

The blonde takes one more look at me, his icy disposition having cooled down a bit.

"You've got my back, Ozaki?"

"You bet."

Huh. Trust, mistrust, a bunch of shit going on this night... I guess that old man in glasses from World History was right:

_"We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately." _


	8. Wake From Death

_Act 8: Wake From Death_

So here I am, a baseball player, accompanied by a basketball player and a movie nerd, as we are treading through the shadow of the valley of death. We're off getting the supplies and necessities for everyday life, saving our people like in an epic poem, as Shido-sensei puts it.

Okay, maybe I'm being overly dramatic. But given the bleak circumstances, I think some of the drama is_ god damn _justified. We're unarmed, it's very dark (save for maybe a few lamp-posts dimly operating), and some of us are slowly losing our minds out here. If we make it out of this alive with all the things we need, then we are pretty damn _sure _we're gonna be heroes worthy of some story that Shido would tell...

Things haven't been looking up right now though. The trust between us is getting a bit strained, and some certain people can barely contain their frustration.

"Shit, shit, shit! This wasn't supposed to happen..."

Kurokami declares so with a hint of anguish. With great agitation, he punches his fist into a wall. Almost immediately, he comically retracts his hand shaking it off.

It was obvious Kurokami wasn't taking this well at all. As we started scavenging for things just a while ago, we confirmed that some of our greatest fears were certainly evident: people have already raided a bunch of these stores around the around the area, picking them off of most of the supplies and leaving what was either just a load of junk or some extra surplus behind. It was hard for all of us, but apparently Kurokami couldn't comprehend this even happening, even when he was the one who suggested we should be wary of finding nothing. I've come to the conclusion that Kurokami's mind operated like a computer: if something in particular didn't fit is odd ideals and logic, his mind simply freezes up and is unable to process anything.

Tsunoda and I were already getting a bit worried by this a while ago. The dark-haired guy is supposedly our zombie survival expert, and even if he is just a mere geek, he knows just a tad more than we do. And even if he didn't know shit, he's supposed to be a member of this group and helping us in our progress. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the night.

"Damn it, this isn't fair! Why is this happening?"

"Shut the hell up, Kurokami! We've made some progress and found stuff so far, this wasn't a complete waste of time! So be quiet so we can get our shit together, and get the hell out of here!"

Tsunoda yells at him, not really trying to encourage him so much as he is just yelling because he's annoyed. I don't dispute the validity of Tsunoda's statement, so much as I focus on the fact Tsunoda was _yelling _just now. It occurred to me that there was a distinct echo that passed throughout the outdoor mall area, carrying his voice some distance. I feel like punching the bleach-haired bastard in the face for doing something as stupid as that. I stand silent, looking in at all directions for some sort of sign that _they _will attack. Fortunately, I find none. _Unfortunately, _it doesn't make me any less paranoid.

But what pisses me off is that I'm actually left guessing where the threat is. It's not fair not knowing when or if you'll be attacked... When we entered this outdoor mall without a damn clue of what was around us, all we saw were some broken windows and stuff scattered about, all of which were simply indications the place was looted earlier. But that's it. There's no zombies or any indication we're not alone. There's no bodies lying around. There's no pools of blood that we can see, and even in the dark, copious amounts of blood leave a distinctly sick aroma that lingers in your mind for a while. I learned this back when I was trying to make my way around in Fujimi Academy. I almost feel dead just from the sheer amount of worry that plagues my mind right now.

But at least things don't seem _too _hopeless. Tsunoda was right when he said that this wasn't a complete waste of time, we_ did _find things. I take the rucksack I'm carrying off my shoulder and look at its contents. We all found a few rucksacks and backpacks in a department store earlier to keep whatever spoils we find still lying around. Anyway, I sift through it just to make sure everything is still there. There's a few cans of food, and a couple instant stuff like ramen. If we ration this out responsibly, and manage to find water too, this will probably last us out a few days. Frankly, I already feel ridiculously lucky that I was able to find food as is. But aside from that, the only other thing on Kurokami's list that I was able to find were a few bundles of matches. One of which I keep in my front pocket, just in case.

And that's it. I've been noted as the person who personally found the most stuff that will aid us in survival thus far, meaning Kurokami and Tsunoda aren't finding as many things as I am... We've already been searching for about an hour. It's quite unsettling, really.

Speaking of them, I look over my shoulder to see what's up with them. I feel disappointed, but not entirely surprised to see them still arguing with each other, albeit in hushed voices this time.

"Look, if you wanna be a little bitch about this, we're in another department store right now; you can go to panty aisle over there. _Or _you can stop whining."

"What do you know, Tsunoda? You're the dumb muscle here. You play a dumb-ass sport and have the bad grades to prove that."

Now they're just trying to insult with each other. I didn't think it would get this is pathetic. However, shit obviously has gotten serious when I see Tsunoda rummaging through a couple things scattered on the ground, and from it, picks up a piece of pipe. He's readying it like some kinda club, and it doesn't bode well with me that I can clearly picture Kurokami making a snide remark about Tsunoda looking even more like a caveman or something. I decide to intervene before it comes to that.

"Unless you two would like to die, then I will ask both of you to _shut the fuck up_. Good god, I'm amazed we haven't died yet with the way you two have been bickering."

Tsunoda opens his mouth, as if to insult me back, though Kurokami quickly straightens himself out and punches the third-year in the shoulder.

"He's right... there's no use focusing your anger on me. And maybe I am overreacting a little."

Huh. That was quick of him to admit. I feel relieved, honestly. Tsunoda looks at the dark-haired guy, then back at me. He still tightly grips that pipe in his hands, feeling ready to use it. Tsunoda pauses for a few moments, thinking up of an answer before rather calmly nodding his head.

"I'll try to keep it down."

He keeps the pipe in his hands, but lowers his guard and is back to normal. I nod my head back at him, satisfied by my apparent ability to keep order in this group. Kurokami's usually the guy who leads the way when we explore the inventory of adjacent stores, but since he's not in the soundest state of mind at the moment, I guess I'll have to head along. We leave the department store we're exploring now, and then move on. I notice a nearby convinience store, so I decide perhaps that'd be the best bet if we wanted to find good enough water for us to drink. I hear you can last a week or so on just water, so that would help us out quite a bit. I look over my shoulder off in the distance.

While it's relatively far away, the bus where everyone is waiting at is still there, it's headlights still illuminating its very presence. It comforts me I'm able to get a glimpse of it still. That's a good indication all three of us haven't gotten lost yet. I picture Shido making another lecture towards the girls (and Yamada) about how we should use the supplies, how we might need to live for the next few days, make a speech about survival... or just teaching biology curriculum to pass the time. The last one would make me cringe a bit, honestly.

Me, Tsunoda, and Kurokami enter this new store, scanning the area for anything that could possibly be moving. A few seconds pass by before we conclude there's no sign of life (or undead) moving about.

"Damn, we must be really lucky tonight. No zombies and shit. It sucks, I was looking forward to using this and pretending I'm smashing Komuro's head."

Tsunoda takes a few mock practice swings with his pipe, scaring Kurokami by narrowly missing him a couple times. Well, at least if it keeps the mood lighthearted and our spirits stay up.

"What's your deal with Komuro anyway? The guy's no person I'd wanna defend, but I don't think he's so bad, either."

The bleach-haired third-year looks back a bit surprised by my sudden question, though he doesn't seem hesitant at all to respond.

"Oh, Komuro? The fucker thinks he's the shit, he can get in everyone's business and stuff."

"That doesn't sound much like a convincing argument."

Luckily, our side-conversation doesn't get too much in the way of our goal of actually scavenging for supplies, as we talk and look around sifting through the store's remains simultaneously. I listen to his heated words while look through some old trash and bottles for something that could randomly come in handy.

"Well... The asshole got in my way once. Just once. I was sorta interested in his whore and he got pissed off about it. I didn't even try to pick a fight with that bastard, and he was all up in my face."

"His whore... Oh, you mean Miyamoto? The girl who really fucked you up before she and Komuro left?"

"That's the one... bitch really caught me off guard."

Kurokami lets out a laugh at that comment, and the mention of the incident once again brings me back to picturing it all happening again. I involuntarily let out a chuckle. The look on Tsunoda's face as he gets knocked over is always fucking classic. Not that I'll tell him that directly, though. With a glance over the shoulder, I make it just in time for Tsunoda gesturing us to both go to hell.

"Anyway, it just sorta happened once. That's how I know him. Of course, Komuro's a big enough dick not to remember who I was back when I was trying to talk him down the other day."

"Why the hell didn't he recognize you?"

"Because back then... this was like a year ago or something... I think he and Miyamoto were unofficially hooked up together."

"Unofficially?"

"Yeah. They liked each other, but Komuro didn't have the balls to step it up and ask her out or something. Anyway, he still kept getting jealous over a bunch of people who might've liked her and some shit, so he got possessive. I'm betting the bastard roughed up a lot of people for her, so I was probably just some face he didn't have a name for. Serves the guy right though, I heard Miyamoto left him for this sort of shit several months ago, and got a new man instead. What was his name... Igou or something?"

I never really held opinions of Takashi Komuro. All I knew was that he was a friend of Morita, and lately he had been having a lot of girl problems, especially with Miyamoto. I guess Tsunoda's story seems legitimate, and makes a good deal of sense. Still, perhaps it seems pointless trying to piece together puzzles that are irrelevant to our time... at least it makes for interesting conversation pieces.

"Hm, right... Well, it's pretty damn that likely the boyfriend is dead now. Hell, it's pretty damn likely that Komuro and Miyamoto are dead too, right now."

"Yup. And just look at all the fucks I give."

I laugh at Tsunoda's rather blunt comment. While it's not really nice to wish ill upon people (except maybe Saya Takagi), I guess I can sorta sympathize with Tsunoda. Just barely. It's obvious he's sort of a dick in his own right, and this isn't a full story. Still, what's done is done. I recall the grizzly bus crash that happened right before our eyes, some giant hunk of metal covered in flames. Komuro and Miyamoto were trapped behind the wreckage, and likely met their fates without much help from us. To be honest, I initially was very saddened by their departure, but due to their friends abandoning us as a group too, I find it gradually becoming harder to give a shit about them.

"And besides, I was pissed at the time. I felt like I needed someone to punch in the face. Komuro seemed like a likely candidate, up until Miyamoto stepped in."

Kurokami and I start holding back our laughs again. If he had just told us this comment the first time around, maybe we didn't have to get so nostalgic or reflect on the past. It leaves me wondering if he spontaneously came up with an elaborate excuse for his urge to hit Komuro or not, and he made up the story... he doesn't seem smart or witty enough to go through that sorta trouble, though.

We all continue sifting through the random things scattered around in the store. The place is a complete mess, undoubtedly from either a combination of riots going on (I can imagine the hysteria over learning that zombies are attacking), or just some activities of other over-paranoid freaks likes us who ransacked the place for all of its goods. Anyway, I haven't checked up on the other guys in a while, since I was mostly focusing on searching my own corner of the store, and reminiscing Tsunoda getting his ass kicked... Man, I feel particularly _cruel_ that I won't let that moment _go_.

"Find anything yet?"

I hear Tsunoda grumbling something, though from the negative way it sounded I can safely assume he didn't get anything new. Kurokami however seemed to be a bit lively as he was also mumbling something incoherently, but in a much more positive tone. He gestures over towards some metal box-looking thing.

"I think this was a fridge or something... y'know, like what they put next to hold those sodas and stuff while you're waiting in line?"

The lot of us get curious and head over towards this supposed fridge. Sure enough, even though it's toppled over and definitely looks like it took some kind of wear-and-tear, I can still recognize the soft drink logo painted on its side. The door to open it looks like it's facing down against the floor, so I gesture over towards Tsunoda to help me lift it back up in its regular position. He nods his head, and after a brief struggle, we're able to stand it back up. With great anticipation, Kurokami opens it up and inspects its contents.

"Jackpot!"

The reactions on me and Tsunoda's faces are beamingly positive, albeit probably for different reasons. Kurokami pulls out a few bottles of water, which I feel extremely grateful for. Then he finds a few glass bottles. The shape of them is unmistakable; they're a few bottles of varying types of alcohol. This is the thing in particular that really catches Tsunoda's attention.

"Holy shit... Oh man, I need some of this now..."

Without really taking note to try and ask first, he takes a bottle of what appears to be vodka from Kurokami's hands, and starts popping off the top to take a couple swigs of it. Kurokami and I shake our heads in frustration, not really knowing what to do with this guy. Frankly, our apparent zombie expert might not be of the soundest mind sometimes, but at least he's a bit reasonable... Tsunoda just seems like he acts much more recklessly though.

"Give me back that vodka, Tsunoda. The last thing we need is for you to get drunk and end up accidentally fucking a zombie."

Kurokami once again shows his icy sarcasm. It just now occurs to me in the short time of knowing them, that these two _really _hate each other. It leaves me to wonder how they acted towards each other before this shit started, if they even talked at all.

Tsunoda gives a bit of a disappointed look, but doesn't seem too pissed off at the apparent snarking coming at him. He ends up shrugging his shoulders before deciding to go on and take a couple gulps of the stuff down before putting it in his own backpack. As soon he puts the bottle away, he stumbles a bit, perhaps reeling from the sudden intake... Well, this is looking up to be quite fantastic. Kurokami obviously thinks similar, but doesn't stop Tsunoda from keeping the alcohol.

"Well, maybe we can use that as disinfectant or something in case we get wounded... or if we're screwed from impending zombie invasion, I guess we can just use this stuff to get fucked up, anyway."

I... don't know what to make of that last bit. I'm equally focused on the fact that the depressing bad end might come along to a point where drowning our sorrows would be a viable option, and I'm also wondering just how weirdly bipolar Kurokami must be if he was having a near-breakdown earlier when he saw the stores already ransacked, but yet he's back at a state of calm, sarcastic cynicism while we go about our business again. Quite peculiar.

In any case, Kurokami puts away the water and alcohol in his backpack. Looks like we're heading towards actual survival in the apocalypse here... Once he's done, the dark-haired movie-nerd decides to move along. Leading the way once again, we get out of the old convenience store after we deem everything still left around to be either rotten or junk...

Shit, these places used to be full stores. They must've been packed when the end of the world was just beginning. I guess it's just our fault for coming so late.

We take to another small general store, hoping to find some things that might be of use to us. Guiding himself slowly due to the lack of light, Kurokami opens the door and walks right in. It's kinda funny though; doors seem superfluous when you consider the windows on either side of said doors have been smashed through.

It's very dark, but I don't even need my sight to tell me that one thing in particular strikes off as very... odd. And unsettling.

_That smell..._

There was no questioning it. It was blood. Kurokami and Tsunoda seemed to note it a few moments after walking in. Someone or something is dead in here. And I don't know what it is.

I resist the urge to plug my nose because I know I've smelled much worse than this back at Fujimi Academy. Unlike those hallways, this store doesn't have a stench of decay in it. Unless this death just happened _really _recently (which I doubt, since we probably would've heard it), then I don't think a zombie should be in here... I hope.

"Any of you got a light?"

Tsunoda asked his question, daring not to tread into any corner or side of the store that wasn't illuminated by some kind of light. I didn't particularly blame him either. The other stores had things that we could barely see due to the light from lamp posts outside just shining in, and we didn't feel inclined to go in too deep in the stores because they were so dark; after all, what we've found thus far was stuff that was just within the threshold of light. But not this place. All I see is complete darkness, and with the smell of blood faintly lingering in the air, it only serves to make me more paranoid.

"I've got a couple matches on me..."

I take out a small book of matches from my pocket. The flame itself would probably die out pretty quickly, so I try to look for something off the ground that I might be able to light on fire to see if I can use it as a brief torch or something. I kneel down and feel around the ground, with Tsunoda and Kurokami anxiously watching my back for anything. At least Tsunoda seems somewhat properly armed with that pipe of his, me and Kurokami have got nothing now.

I eventually feel what I think is a bundle of newspaper. Sighing with relief, I roll it up before taking a match. I strike it against the booklet, causing it to make a tiny little flame appear. I carefully apply it to the top of the newspaper, hoping the fire can stay long enough for me to see...

Shit, this wasn't a smart idea. I can see some light being illuminated by the flame, but it's a bit brief; the fire spreads on the paper faster than I anticipate, nearing my hand in a near-instant, causing me to freak out and drop it against the ground... Well, I'm no expert on how to handle fire, I guess. I look down and see the embers dying out, but still present.

However, Kurokami and Tsunoda looked a bit stunned. I glance over at them, and it's evident they didn't have a look of anxiety because I almost burned my hand.

"I... I saw bodies. Two of them, I think..."

I freeze in place. Kurokami managed to chatter out a set of words that make my fears reality.

"I think I saw a flashlight next to one of those guys... I'm gonna try to get it.

I don't dare to move an inch further, but Kurokami seems like he wants to further investigate. I have no idea if he really saw a flashlight, and frankly I'm a bit worried he's gonna get hurt in his search. Badly. In defiance of fate, he moves forwards towards the darkness, to a point where I can barely see a silhouette of him, but nothing else around him. We hear the sound of him rustling some cans and stuff and hurting himself, but he insists he's fine and that he merely tripped.

So all we hear is some occasional rustling while he looks for this light. We wait an agonizing minute before we hear him make a vocal response.

"I think I found it... now where's the damn button..."

As soon as he says those words, we see a beam of light shining through a part of the store. The light itself is a very welcoming and relieving phenomena to be able to see. What it illuminates however, is nothing to be excited about.

I don't care about what Kurokami or Tsunoda's reactions are, all I see is a particularly disturbing spectacle: Two men, slumped over on the ground, dead. One of them had a nasty gash across his neck, looking like a small chunk of flesh was very simply but crudely cut... or torn. Or shredded? I can't recognize that kind of wound... But they're each sitting in pools of their own blood. And they've probably been dead since... this morning? Afternoon? Maybe just minutes before our bus even arrived in the area? I don't know what to make of this.

Kurokami finds himself curious and nears one of the bodies. He kneels down, not minding the blood he's now getting on his pants. After moving the body around a few ways, which I kinda find disturbing, Kurokami nods his head conclusively.

"This guy was shot and just sat here, bleeding to death."

"When the fuck did you become an autopsy specialist? How do you know?"

I respond a bit incredulously to his assumption, and feel that maybe I'm a bit skeptical. And afraid, if there was a gun involved in this death.

"Look right here, Dr. Ozaki."

The mocking of my name in this situation seemed uncalled for, but I take a look anyway. I cringe slightly, but the bloody, round wound in the guy's stomach is undeniably from a gunshot... It's weird that I've always dreaded seeing what a man who's been shot down looks like, but in comparison to seeing what zombies do to people, I feel a bit more at ease right now than I'm really comfortable with.

Kurokami also picks up some sort of long piece of metal sitting beside the man who was shot and killed.

"Huh. A crowbar... must've been what was used to kill that guy over there. I don't have any other way of explaining that wound on his neck, anyway."

Hmm. I guess a crowbar could explain the tearing gash over there...

"I suppose these two guys just went crazy and killed each other?"

I make an honest opinion on the matter. Tsunoda and Kurokami both shudder, not rejecting my opinion, but rather them thinking about how this must've went about. Maybe they were struggling for supplies... Regardless, I simply hope that we don't get to a point where we're killing each other like that... I suppose we have Shido to thank for our degree of mental stability so far.

After putting away the thoughts of killing, I still see Kurokami holding that crowbar, as he inspects both it and the body it was used on. After some seeming mental note, he nods his head and tosses the crowbar in my direction. I don't expect it, but in a split decision I catch it with my hands, just to avoid getting hit in the face very painfully. I almost drop it on my foot though; the damn thing is pretty heavy and almost breaks my wrist when I catch it, plus it was sorta slick with blood on it. I look at the tool in disgust while I try to find something to dry it off with.

"The hell do you want me to do with this?"

"It's a weapon. A damn good one too... or the guide says so, anyway. It has decent reach, you can break skulls with it, and if we find a box or locked door, you can pry stuff open with it. You don't need to be a theoretical physicist to figure that out."

This clunky piece of metal seems a bit unwieldy, but if Kurokami says so, I guess I can take a couple practice swings to can get used to this... I'd really prefer a bat though.

I find a rag lying around near the entrance, and decide to use that to clean off this blood. Does the fact that this thing is covered in the blood of that other guy who was thrashed in the neck phase _anyone _except me? God damn it, it's all over my hands now...

"Hey, don't point that thing at me, asshole!"

"Relax, relax, I know how to handle this."

I look up to inspect the commotion going on there. What I see next is something that causes me to drop the crowbar in my hands, not from the slick of the blood on it, but just from my own sheer surprise.

"Looks like this is the gun that killed that other guy... Well! We're in luck! This thing's still loaded! Maybe there's another clip or two hiding somewhere on this dead guy..."

Kurokami happily declares so. I find myself taking a step back away from him, intimidated by the guy who now decides to brandish a firearm.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, what the fuck, Kurokami? Be careful with that thing! Do you know how to use a gun?"

I again try to get behind something in order to avoid any shots coming from that thing. Kurokami looks way too excited about that gun to for this to be a safe situation.

"Don't worry, Ozaki. I may not have covered wars, but I know how to handle a gun... I've had practice, believe me."

"How the hell did you ever get a chance to practice with a gun? Is your family Yakuza or some shit?"

"Uh, kinda the opposite, ironically. My dad's a cop, and we kinda messed around with his gun sometimes. And I'd also have some practice in a firing range..."

My mind goes blank trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of this picture Kurokami's trying to paint.

"Firing range?"

"Firing range, alleyway with bottles and cans, same difference. I sometimes took my dad's gun when he wasn't looking to practice it, anyway. And this looks pretty much like the same police model most cops around here use, so I'm already familiar with this gun."

Kurokami's dad has to be the most irresponsible and careless parent in the world... and he's an officer in _law enforcement _at that...

My own personal knowledge of video games and movies can only tell me that Kurokami is holding looks like some kind of semi-automatic pistol... and that doesn't really tell me much. Good grief. While Kurokami reacts positively towards finding more ammo stashed on the body, I sigh.

Still. In addition to some essential supplies like food, at least we're somewhat properly armed. We've got some close-range weapons, and a guy with a gun... I suppose that's not top notch monster-hunter gear we've got, but I suppose it's a start.

Well, everything seems set... we've looked through a bunch of stores around this area, and we've gotten what we could that wasn't already scavenged out... I think that we should at least go back to the bus now, before we're gone long enough for Shido to consider us as being dead out in the field thanks to some unforeseen disaster, labeling us as martyrs for risking our lives and dying for the sake of those on the bus. Kurokami might not be pleased we've gotten everything on that little list of his, but at this point I don't care. I want to go back.

I look back and think about Fumiko. Honestly, I know in my conscious, somewhere, she's the motivation I have behind being out here, doing what I'm doing now. But... I guess admittedly, I haven't thought about her specifically, really. No, I've also kinda thought about Kurokami and Tsunoda, knowing that they're two guys who probably hate each other's guts, and my own as well... but we're still friends, I guess. A few random guys brought to have to trust each other because some undead creatures are out to mutually threaten our existence. Yep... as much as I may hate them, and they hate me, I guess I know that we're in this shit together.

_Clank._

I hear something interrupting my thoughts. Something displaced... some sort of metal can or something. Kurokami and Tsunoda heard it too, so I bet I'm not crazy just yet. The former carefully shines his flashlight, trying to illuminate any corner of the room in an attempt to find out what had been the cause. However, nothing was shown that we hadn't already seen before. But I knew one thing was for certain.

We weren't alone.

My nerves cause me a lot of paranoia. This is bad. Real bad. Where the fuck is that thing we heard? Tsunoda walks off towards one side of the store, and Kurokami at another, continually shining and waving his flashlight everywhere so that we can barely get a glimpse of light in one place, but not long enough to actually see something in detail. I stay where I am now, looking around my immediate surroundings. However, Kurokami shines his light at just the right moment in one area in particular that gets me worried.

"Where'd that dead guy with the gun go?"

The two turn their heads over to me, giving me this sort of astonished, incredulous look. I shield myself from being blinded, not appreciating that the flashlight was also being directed right at me. I pondered why they weren't looking at the corner where the body used to be, but then it hits me.

I feel something grab my ankle, causing every nerve and cell in my body to panic and shriek.

"What the fuck?"

My mind is delving into a state of chaos, and I can't think properly. All that enters my mind is that I need to shake off whatever the hell grabbed me. So on mere instinct, I flail my leg, desperately hoping whatever grabbed it will let go. I bet the other two are just standing there with their thumbs up their asses, since I don't see or hear them helping out.

It takes me a moment to realize that I'm actually armed, with a bloodily slippery crowbar dangling in my grip. I don't even care where I'm hitting. I tighten my hold on the metal tool and strike at whatever the fuck is holding me. I don't care to aim for something. My eyes are closed, and I'm in no position to think. Fuck thinking. I need to act.

Thoughts and memories of _them _back in Fujimi all come back to me in an instant. I recall the zombies I had to kill, the fear I felt trying to survive, the complete and utter _rage _I felt just when Morita died... It all comes back to me in a split-second, making me relive every memory I've felt thus far. I'm just... lost in nightmares... I must wake up from this. I have to wake from death, I have to _escape..._

_Just... go back towards life..._

My dreadful recollection of the events end as soon as I feel my crowbar not moving anymore. It's stuck. I feel like panicking even more as I try to desperately pull it out of where, but it takes a few moments later to realize the grip on my ankle has relented.

I take a step back, letting go of the crowbar and allowing myself to come to my senses.

Right at my feet, sits the man who presumably was struck in the neck by the crowbar. Obviously, that theory doesn't sound as credible anymore. I now have to presume the worst and guess he was attacked by one of _them_. He just didn't decay or get eaten enough for us to recognize that.

What astonishes me though is my apparent handiwork. Evidently, the curve of the crowbar is stuck in the guy's head like a hook in the mouth of a fresh fish...

So... he became one of _them_. I grab onto the crowbar again and yank it out of its skull and wipe off the new blood with that same bloody rag I picked up earlier. Adrenaline's pumping through me. I don't feel so... "dead" anymore, now that I see my paranoia is no longer unfounded. Good, I know for a fact we're not alone. Maybe that's something to look forward to, or dread. I don't know yet, but it beats having to play a constant guessing game within your own mind. It's like playing chess against yourself, or agonizingly waging a civil war in your brain trying to figure out reason and paranoia from real threats...

Oh, fuck it... I take a couple deep breaths, trying to relax myself.

I glance over towards the other body nearby, the one Kurokami so evidently thought was shot dead. I don't like doing this to a corpse, but we have to do it... I point towards the guy who was presumably shot in the stomach.

"Make sure this guy isn't a zombie."

Kurokami notes my warning, and immediately aims his pistol at the body's head. My eyes open wide in surprise that he would use a firearm so brashly, and I try to stop him from uselessly using his gun like that, but it's too late.

The sound of the gun going off makes me practically jump, not because it was too loud, but rather surprising. I honestly never heard the sound of a gun before, at least not outside movies and video games, so it actually sounded kinda lackluster in comparison. Not much of a _boom _with power behind it. More like a _pop_... what disturbs me is the echo that came off the gunshot though. This echo lasts particularly longer than the time where Tsunoda was yelling, and everyone can already tell. A single loud pop that contrasted with the dead silence.

Well, too late for that now. The only comforting thought is looking at the bloody wound on the corpse's head, and know with confidence that it won't rise up again. But that was moot. If there's one of _them _that got to this guy, there's bound to be more.

Sweat drips off my brow again. Paranoia settles in.

I immediately try to go over everything we've managed to gather tonight: the food, the water and alcohol, the flashlight, matches, and a couple weapons we've armed ourselves with. I put the bloody rag in my pocket, feeling a bit satisfied so far.

"What we've got now is good enough. Let's bail before we meet more of those monsters back on our way."

I declare so, not really waiting for any reply. I know I'm not the leader of this group, but maybe I'm the most mentally sound out of . At least from what I've seen of those two clowns over there, anyway. I shake those thoughts out of my head as I adjust the backpack, making sure that I've got everything. Now's not a time to ponder doubt in the guys who you're probably relying on to keep you alive, and vice versa. Leaving Morita behind due to his stubborn behavior was painful enough as is, so I guess it'd be good for my sanity to prevent a repeat incident from happening.

Heading out of the store, I also hear the footsteps of my peers following me. Good, they're sensible. All we have to do is run down to the bus and...

Holy shit.

Already we fucking see a group of _them_ heading towards our direction. They didn't really head for the store we were in specifically, more like just passing by to investigate the noise that rang off. However, the gunshot certainly riled those things, and their slow, haggard pace was a bit speedier than usual. At least from what I recall from those things at Fujimi. There was only half a dozen of them, but that was way too many for me to feel extremely comfortable with.

The sight of the monsters wandering around this outdoor mall sort of reminds me of something, but I don't really have time to think now. We all need to get the fuck out of here.

My grip on the crowbar tightened a bit. It wasn't as long as a bat, nor did it seem as practical, but I had to make due if it came down to fighting these things.

"I'll take care of this, guys."

Those words were sort of along the lines of my own thoughts, but they were uttered by a mouth that wasn't mine. Kurokami cocks the pistol he has in his hand and gets ready to go to town.

"You son of a bitch, don't you dare get us in deeper-"

My scolding insults fall short as Kurokami gleefully pulls the trigger, firing at _them_ one by one. It doesn't matter how fucking good he is as shooting, a gun is a very, very rare commodity in Japan, and he's just wasting ammo for the sake of being cool... Then again, maybe I don't know how much Kurokami actually found on that corpse he searched, but the point persists... I get dreaded flashbacks of my nightmare a while ago, where I tried shooting down zombies and it all ended hopelessly after I ran out of ammo, leaving me and those I wanted to protect to our dreadful fates...

However, what amazes me beyond all my recognition is that in just six shots, I see six bodies on the ground. I was kinda just lost in thought for a few moments... before I know it, I realize a few minutes pass, and _they _are approaching us since the gunshots immediately grab attention. But since these few minutes _did _pass, I know Kurokami must've taken his time in shooting. But _it's working_. I stare in awe as soon as I recognize 4 bodies already on the ground. Pow. Dead zombie. Pow. Dead zombie... Soon enough, the last one fell to the ground as the dark-haired guy with a gun smiled smugly.

"Heh, just like old times. Reminds me of my dad, except we didn't really shoot at anything moving, y'know? Had to take a bit of time. Good thing zombies are slow as hell."

Kurokami wasn't bullshitting that he really was taught by his dad, but that doesn't mean he's a professional... I'd imagine some sort of fancy professional shooter in Europe or America shooting those things down in seconds... and despite what he might say, I don't think all of _them _are slow to a point where we've got all the time in the world in taking them down.

In the midst of echoing gunshots, I hear more moaning and wretched cries of the undead. I look farther back behind us, as we start heading towards the bus. A much larger group of _them _seem to have been agitated by the sounds of guns and their kin dying, so they start marching towards us.

I nervously look on, trying to find a hope spot.

"Oh, fuck... there's too many of them... and I don't know if I have that much ammo, anyway..."

Great, even our supposed badass gunslinger is going to shit his pants if we don't do something. I take a step back, already inclined to just start running and praying we'll outrun _them_. Some of those things are already picking up a pace almost comparable to running, at least as much as their decaying bodies will let them.

"Oh damn... damn it, I _really_ need this now!"

Tsunoda goes into his backpack and takes out that vodka stuff, wanting to take another swig of it for courage.

"So, Ozaki... while Tsunoda here gets drunk off his ass, got any creative ideas?"

I look over towards the drinking Tsunoda, then the area where _they _are incoming. I recall everything that I've gathered so far, and something clicks. The fact my brain worked so quickly means it must be a blessing from the gods or whatever deity lies up there.

"I've got an idea!"

There's no time to waste. I hook my crowbar onto my backpack and make a quick step towards Tsunoda, taking the bottle of vodka away from his hands before he can take a single gulp of it. Reaching in my pocket, I take out that rag I used to wipe off my crowbar, and start stuffing it down the neck of the bottle.

I start to move towards the bus, while I reach in another pocket for the final piece of this puzzle: my matches.

As soon as I get the match book, I toss the vodka bottle over towards Kurokami. Although a bit caught off-guard, he dutifully catches it himself while he waits for me. Taking the book of matches, I swing one against the pad several times, desperately trying to ignite it. I look over my shoulder to take a look at the situation at hand.

More of them are getting closer to us, maybe not inches, but the fact still persists they're chasing us down. Fuck...

I accidentally break the flimsy match I'm using in two, and I discard it trying to light another one.

"Work, damn it...!"

As if responding to my frustrated cursing, the match ignites with a faint little flame on it. The sight of the fire fills my spirits up as I run over towards Kurokami. Taking the match, I ignite the rag attatched to the bottle, watching its flame spread over through the cloth. The sight of the fire made Kurokami flinch and almost drop the bottle. I manage to catch it before it stumbles to the ground, breaking and causing my efforts to be wasted. I gesture for the dark-haired guy to catch up with Tsunoda and focus on just running.

Glancing at my lit Molotov cocktail, I try to aim around the center of the group, maybe around the feet and hope the fire spreads enough to get some. Time to put this pitching arm to good use, finally.

"Burn, baby!"

I shout out with all my might as the bottle leaves my hand. The Molotov manages to crash into one of _them_, and shattering the glass.

Flames manage to erupt from the impact, but perhaps not as explosive as I imagined. Nonetheless, I see the fire spreading relatively quickly, and the undead helplessly tread across a carpet of flame. I expected some sort of bigger inferno, but the job is being done: _they _are continuing to walk past the fire, but their bodies are ignited, and they seem a bit more erratic in their movements now, as if expressing their allusion to panic over their burning state... Yet it's still unnerving to see _them_ walking a bit calmly while their flesh starts charring off.

Slowly but surely though, I see the first burnt corpse crumple to the ground. Others follow, and I stare at awe in my handiwork. I sure didn't kill all of them, and most of them are actually still alive. But the ones that are still moving are struggling with their burning body parts, and their shambling pieces are being hindered by flame.

I start to grin, feeling very accomplished. I turn around and start heading back towards the bus. I feel compelled to live again, I'm reinvigorated with this spirit that makes me feel like I can just flip off _them _without a damn care in the world. Weary, but triumphant, I double-check my backpack and make sure the food is all still there. Kurokami and Tsunoda walk towards the mini-bus where Mr. Shido, Yamada, Fumiko, and the other girls have no doubt been anxiously waiting.

I guess it feels good knowing we might get a heroe's welcome when we walk in. The bus's doors open, and those two guys quickly rush inside to try and just reach a sanctuary. Frankly, I have a tendency for tiring my body after going through hell, so I don't feel inclined to rush in or run. My body needs it's rest, and it's sure as hell late at night at the moment, anyway.

The moment I walk in, I see Mr. Shido sitting in the driver's seat, commending me for my actions. There's a smile on his face as he lightly claps his hands in congratulations. I was already expecting this sort of greeting from him, but it sorta feels like I've really earned it this time. I take off my backpack and set it down with the others, hoping that this food will be eaten wisely and will keep us alive for the coming days 'till we manage to get help and evacuate from Tokonosu, possibly.

I walk down the middle of the bus and see that several others are clapping me in as well. Feels almost as if they really depended on us and were genuinely happy we all made it out safely. Yuuki was off in the corner "celebrating" with Tsunoda, pretty much making out and doing everything except sex on the spot... Kurokami was already telling undoubtedly fabricated stories of his exploits as the "leader" of this scavenging expedition... But, there was one person that sorta awaited me making this celebration seem really worth it.

"Welcome back, Shio-kun."

Fumiko stood politely as ever, welcoming me with a warm smile.

"It's good to be back, Fumiko."

I refrain from using her own nickname in front of others, since she kinda gets embarrassed easily by it. I heave a heavy sigh, sitting down alongside her. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me as soon as I'm within reach, tightly hugging me in appreciation.

"Oh, I thought I'd lose you a couple times! You were gone for a while, and I was worried, you know? But I can't believe you went through all the trouble you did to save us..."

She talks very quickly, sort of like in a way a nervous fan might talk to a celebrity in nervousness. I sort of take it in as Fumiko being sort of surprised and awed I've managed to accomplish what I have done out there.

"And Kurokami-kun has already said so much about you guys being out there... it almost sounds like a real horror movie, doesn't it? Scary!"

I already get the impression Kurokami embellishes his stories, so perhaps that's where some of that awe comes in. Well, who cares. I got the job done, anyway. Perhaps I feel like passing out, but for now I just take a few moments to consciously appreciate what I've gotten so far.

I've pitched in saving the group here on the bus, I feel like we've all gained this sort of camaraderie as friends, and maybe with time I can get the girl, too. Maybe life on this bus won't be so bad after all. I guess I've managed to swoop in from this state of despair and paranoia, and now I guess I can just rest easy and be happy again.

Huh. I guess that's what it means to "wake from death and return to life."


	9. A Drink Takes the Man

_Act 9: A Drink Takes the Man_

My body feels tired, and the joints all around it are slowly gaining feeling once again. I find myself waking up from an almost face-flat position on a some kind of seat. And I also feel kinda sweaty too. Damn.

Anyway, I can see morning light surrounding me, but I can't tell if I'm in an unfamiliar place, or I'm simply in an unfamiliar position. Shit like that happens, sometimes. But in a situation like this, then shit must've happened last night, too. I try to raise myself upright, but all that greets me is the light somehow becoming blindingly bright, and my head starting to ache horribly. As I try to figure out what the hell's wrong, it takes me a few moments to recognize this agonizing sensation. I'm hung over.

An untimely experience with myself, Morita, and a couple other guys (and a girl or two) already taught me some of the rather... annoying symptoms you experience in a hangover. In a way that's tragically humorous, but humorously tragic, as you tend not to remember things that happened last night when you're hung over. For that matter, Morita was really pissed off that he became drunk that night and woke up, not knowing if he had managed to get any... _action _that night, especially since there was at least one girl who did get drunk with us. At least I had the comfort of knowing that my friends laughed at me trying to stumble back to my dorm room while they got drunk off their asses, and who knows what weird shit went on in Morita's dorm room... I don't know where those guys got it, or how the hell they even managed to have someone manage sneak bottles of alcohol into the school campus without alerting any staff members or security... Heh... those were certainly the days. But given the current circumstances, nostalgia is just a feeling that I can equate to pain, knowing that those old friends aren't here anymore.

Still, that experience taught me the unpleasant side-effects of alcohol, and I distinctly remember vowing to myself the next morning that I wouldn't try that sort of shit again. Of course, something happened that caught me in this very situation. Again. Hmm... If I look back on the events last night, all I can recall is that after managing to kick some ass and getting some food and other supplies, me and the other two guys were sorta heralded as heroes of the bus. There was some rejoicing going on, stories being told... then my memory goes blank after that.

Alright. So, let's take a review of my current situation. As I look around, I'm able to recognize that I'm still here on the same old bus. I'm the only one on this bus seat. And I'm still wearing my pants. And shirt, too. I quickly realize that I'm not wearing my jacket and it's off lying around... somewhere, but I guess that isn't too much of a problem.

Well, things are looking good so far.

I glance out the window. Glare from the light that came in sorta prevented me from seeing the outside, but all I saw was my own reflection. Good, I guess I need a sort of mirror then. To see if someone drew on my face or something. Morita said that during that one night when people got drunk and passed out, he went to town with a marker on some dude's face and drew all sorts of funny things on him.

Luckily, my face is clear of any mustaches or embarrassing phrases. Good. This bolsters my confidence a bit more. Maybe I can hope that nothing embarrassing happened last night... because I sure as hell know that I couldn't have been the only one drinking stuff last night. At least my body is clear of any signs that last night could have happ-

Hold on a moment. What the hell is this on my neck?

I squint my still-tired eyes a bit, just to see if I'm still seeing things correctly. Maybe it's a shadow or something. Maybe it's a bit of dirt? Let's see here... I place a couple fingers there and try to smudge off whatever the hell it is... uh, nope. Shit. Not only is this mark on my skin, but my neck feels weird, perhaps a bit uncomfortable if I touch it or apply pressure. How... odd.

This sensation I recognize makes me come to the conclusion my neck's somehow bruised. That's weird. I don't recall getting into a fight last night... but no shit, I don't recall anything from last night. Still, if I threw around fists with someone, it would leave a bigger and more... serious-looking bruise, wouldn't it? So what does this mean?

I take a few moments to try and organize my thoughts. How do you get a small bruise like that on your...

Oh.

An answer pops in my head. It's one that probably makes more sense than any other possibility, though my mind is currently fighting itself in a stage of denial. I lightly trace my fingers around the mark to make sure.

"A... hickey...?"

I dumbfoundedly whisper the word to myself. It's a strange one that's not employed in my vocabulary very often.

How did this happen? How _could _it have happened? It doesn't make sense. Then again, I suppose this is my denial speaking. It likely makes _perfect_ sense. I was drunk last night, or I can assume as much since I can't remember shit. And when alcohol pretty much lowers your inhibitions and makes you more inclined to do stupid things... everything fits like a puzzle.

Okay, so I made out with someone last night. Or at least they made out with me, and then got perhaps just a _bit _frisky and ended up sucking on my neck at some point. But my pants, shirt, and all that is still on, so it couldn't have gone beyond that.

So... who's the lucky girl that did this to me? Oh good grief, in the name of all that's good and holy, it _better _have been a girl, because TV has shown how pretty fucking bad drunkards can get, and the stupid shit they end up doing because they can't think straight. Okay, scratch this thought. It was a girl. It _had _to be. Even if I get drunk, I'm pretty sure I'm not _that_ bad... Yeah, it was probably Fumiko. That makes the most sense... in that case, my biggest regret is the fact that I wouldn't be able to remember something awesome like that happening to me last night.

Anyway, now that my self-evaluation is complete, and I've decided to give myself a _**D**__, _I look around the bus to see what's going on and what everyone else is up to. Surprisingly, I find myself being the first person awake. Everyone looks to be still passed out on their seats since I don't see anyone up and about or talking. I decide to get up and sate my curiosity by investigating around, seeing if other people might've been a bit worse for wear than me. Maybe I can find out who gave me this mark on my neck...

"Oh, Ozaki-kun. It's refreshing to see someone finally awake... Honestly, it was a tad boring having to watch over everyone with no one to talk to."

I hear a familiar voice, one whose presence I wasn't even considering. It takes me off guard at first, though it's offset by the voice's sincerity and seemingly pleasant demeanor. I yawn a bit before rubbing my head, continuing my attempts at nursing its aches.

"Shido-sensei... Uh, good morning."

I turn around and see the teacher, his hands clasped and keeping up a bit of a personable smile. That said however, he looked quite tired, looking like he could fall asleep and take a nap at any minute.

"Ah, of course... good morning to you to, Ozaki-kun. How's your head feeling?"

Nearly freezing, I embarrassingly look away from Shido, scratching the back of my head nervously.

"You... know of what happened last night? To be honest, I hardly remember myself."

"Yes, I'm aware. Alcohol was brought in during your scavenging last night, and everyone chose to indulge in it... Most of you are not used to the drinks, or so I would assume, so it didn't take too long for the substance to gain a hold on you." He takes a pause in his speech to let out a yawn. "Ahhh... Most... unfortunate. Amusing I'll admit, but nonetheless a bit unfortunate."

I initially feel an inclination to be pissed at Mr. Shido for because he did say our predicament was amusing, but I already know that back when Morita and others got drunk, I found it amusing too, to say the least. Well, at least Shido already knows and it can save me and likely others from explaining that we have a hangover. Hell, he probably was watching us while we drank, though I'm a bit surprised that Shido would actually allow such an activity to go on under his watch. And obviously his rather composed demeanor as well as calling out on us for drinking means he went through the night sober. Lucky him. However, Shido's eyes are a bit more squinted and seemingly more strained than usual, and he still looks pretty tired at the moment. Since alcohol is out of the question then maybe he's simply not a morning person.

After a moment, Mr. Shido widens his eyes slightly to give me a rather quizzical look. He analyzes me carefully before it looks like he's holding back a laugh, but a rather smug smirk on his face was still there.

"Ohh, I recall you were quite a ladies man last night, Ozaki-kun. But it's not in gentleman's etiquette to steal the kisses and hearts of girls while under the influence, you know."

My eyes widen a bit, and I quickly place a hand over the hickey on my neck. He had to be looking at that... why else would he make such weird remarks? I don't know Shido very well, but I feel like I'm already able to tell that him making rather casual jokes and teasing seems a bit off... of course, he was never _my_ teacher, so what the hell do I have to worry about anyway...

"Right, don't tell whoever it was that gave me this... let's not speak of it, alright? And do you even know who it is that gave me this?"

Shido's smirk became less obvious as he scanned around the bus. Most of the other students were still sleeping.

"Well, I think I just need to make an announcement regarding this... recent occurrence, so it'll be brought out in the open nonetheless. Last night was unexpected, and I feel some things would be good to address for future reference. It's nothing bad or anything, and if it makes you feel better, I won't call out anyone by name. What do you say to that?"

I can already picture Mr. Shido chewing everyone out and giving us a lecture in responsibility. Frankly, maybe we need it, though it's not something I'm looking forward to. Keeping myself silent, I simply nod my head. Shido seems pleased as he walks over back to his usual position at the front of the bus.

"Good. Oh, and as for who you so embraced last night... I'll leave that to your imagination. It's no fun if I just tell you right now, is it?"

He's toying with me. That bastard's toying with me. He probably saw what happened, too. But he won't say anything, just to mess with my head... Well thanks for telling me nothing, asshole. I'll have to figure this out for myself.

"Thanks a lot, Shido-sensei."

The teacher must have missed my icy sarcasm as he seems to have a rather cheerful look on his face. Obviously he's enjoying this.

"Well, back to work, I suppose. Ozaki-kun, can you help me wake everyone up around here? It might require our combined efforts to get everyone alert and awake. My announcement isn't _too _urgent, though perhaps when everyone's awake I can get it out of the way early."

I nod my head and go down the aisle of seats. I bitterly swallow the contempt I have for Shido at that very moment, but I suppose it'll simmer down and fade anyway. This whole fiasco last night will be cleared up soon, I suppose. And Mr. Shido's a teacher. Teachers joke around with the students sometimes, and I don't think he's _that _much of a bastard to be serious about leaving me clueless. I'll get over it. Eventually.

After passing by the first couple rows of empty seats, I see someone's form lying down rather comfortably. I'm about to shake her up to get her awake, but I notice something that stops my very movements.

Fumiko's lies sleeping on the bus seat, with a rather gentle look on her face. In all the time I've known her, I've never really seen Fumiko asleep. She seems so carefree, so relaxed, probably still stuck in dreamland right now, and it feels like a sin if I just take her out of that state. But her being cute the way she sleeps is merely just one of the things that catches my eye. She's got my school jacket draped over her like a blanket, the very one I found missing this morning.

_My jacket? On her?_

Obviously, I know I was very likely drunk last night since I can't remember, and even Mr. Shido confirmed that I had a bit too much to drink... but there comes a really good feeling of satisfaction that even as a drunk, I carry some bit of class and gentlemanly care by giving the lady my jacket.

But the recollection of me being drunk last night makes my mind wander. It makes me feel the spot on my neck, trying to come up with a story for it. I know that I drank last night. And someone gave me this hickey. From the looks of things, I gave Fumiko my jacket right before she fell asleep, I'd guess. Or after, who knows. But I did interact with her in some way... Then could that mean she's the one who was all on my neck? Is she the one who was with me while I was drunk? Was she drunk too? Did we do_ other _things last night? Well, I know that my pants and clothes were still on this morning, and Fumiko's still wearing her school uniform too, so that can't be it. But we still could've made out, that makes sense...

_Fuck! Something amazing could've happened last night, and I don't remember shit! _

I flail my arms in frustration at this revelation. After taking a moment to calm down, I place a hand on head and berate my own stupidity.

_You acting like an idiot is your fault. Get yourself together, Toshio... breathe... breathe... just wake her up and move on with your day as usual._

After managing to calm down, I walk over to Fumiko to wake her up. Not before I hear some faint, muffled laughing in the background. I look over my shoulder and see Shido placing a hand over his mouth. He looks up and sees that I've noticed him, so he composes himself and waves me off.

"Oh please, don't mind me. Go ahead and continue... sorting your thoughts, Ozaki-kun."

He seemed quite amused. Clearly, he must've seen my freak-out moment upon seeing Fumiko. Lovely, I just made a fool of myself even further. Damn it, let's get this over with before more things start to ignite themselves in my mind.

Letting out a sigh, I tap Fumiko a couple times on the shoulder. When she doesn't respond, I shake her by the arm a bit, and she let's out a stir. Lazily opening an eye, she looks around and feels around the seat for her glasses. She's making a halfhearted effort though since she seems to fall back asleep.

"Come on, wake up sleepyhead. It doesn't seem like you to stay lying down stubbornly, you know?"

She pauses for a moment, trying to place the sound of my voice in her head. She then resumes trying to look for her glasses.

"Hiiiiiii, Shio-kun~..."

She drawls out my nickname in what I can only describe as a somewhat slurred, half-asleep sing-song voice. It's kind of cute, knowing she's never talked like that in front of me. Fumiko manages to find her glasses, in one of the pockets of _my jacket _no less, and places them on her face.

"Good morning, Fumiko. How are you?"

It's all I can really say at the moment without sputtering out something or letting my mind wander towards more awkward subjects.

"Ohhh... I think my head aches a bit... and why do I feel so... groggy right now? Uhh... what happened last night?"

"That's my line. But I guess you don't know either... Shido-sensei said he'd explain everything though, so just sit tight."

I try to give her a reassuring smile. Fumiko sighs as she takes my jacket off of her and sits upright. For that matter, I don't think it's even occurred to her yet that she was using my jacket as a blanket. She yawns, outstretching her arms as she tries to shake the tiredness from her body. Fumiko then does her best to try and rub her temples and break free from whatever headache she has. I feel as though me just waiting around might be a hindrance to Shido. Not that I care or anything, I'd just hate to attract a little more attention to myself after I told the guy I'd wake everyone up. I take my jacket from off the seat, and Fumiko's none the wiser of its absence.

After putting it back on, I move down a couple rows in the bus and see Momo sleeping. Unlike Fumiko, who was sleeping in a really cute way, Momo's sleeping rather lazily, face-flat on the seat, sprawled in an odd and uncomfortable looking position. She pays it no heed though, as she continues to softly breath and look like she hasn't a care in the world. In fact, seeing her spread out like that, flat on her face is sorta reminiscent of that one nightmare I had a while ago. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. Trying to fight back unpleasant memories, I try to wake up Momo, shamelessly being a bit more assertive and forceful than I had with Fumiko.

After grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her a bit, I see her eyes slam wide open without warning. Of course she'd probably be a little shocked and surprised. That is to be expected after all.

Momo flails her arms and legs a bit. Then I feel a dull force impacting my chest as I stumble back a few steps. I almost hit my head on one of the other seats. That _wasn't _to be expected. I clutch my chest reeling back a bit. I know that nothing's broken, and this is hardly what I would call pain. But just the sheer fact this happened was enough to fill me with quite a bit of shock.

I look back up and see Momo, getting up in a more casual position. An annoyingly amused smirk comes up on her face, which sorta just pissed me off.

"That's what you get for freaking the hell out and hitting me back when I woke you up last time. It's only proper to pay in kind for this, right?"

She's making fun of that damn nightmare. To be honest, knowing Momo and the way she usually messes with me sometimes, I guess this isn't too unexpected. I could've seen it coming. In hindsight with that overreaction, maybe I deserve this _just a little_. But it doesn't supress my urge to smack a bitch. I'll relent for now.

"Alright wise guy, now explain to me why I have a headache... and a body-ache for that matter... Got anything to say, Ozaki?"

"I'll tell you what I told Fumiko, Shido will explain everything to you. And calm the hell down, Ishihara. It's one thing to have a rude awakening, it's another to make it rude for the guy waking you up..."

"Excuse me? An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, Ozaki."

Momo immaturely sticks a tongue in my direction before relaxing in her seat a bit. At least I'm polite with the way I wake people up. Speaking of Shido and my constant referral to him, I glance over and see our "great leader" going to wake up the rest of the guys in the back. However...

"Come on guys, hurry it up. It's a bit imprudent if you lazily stay asleep when your leader has something to say. _Get up_!"

...he lacks a bit of the courtesy I had, and just chooses to loudly yell to get everyone awake. With some tosses and turns, everyone struggles to shake free from whatever drowsiness is lingering in them. With the few of us already awake, the shouting already grabs our attentions. After some clambering as people try to gain their senses (and undoubtedly ponder the question of "What the fuck happened last night?")

Satisfied, Shido walks towards the front of the bus, as if he were to speak in front of his own little four-wheeled auditorium. He clasps his hands and keeps up that smile of his, as if trying to feign the patience for his class to give him their undivided attention.

"Well then... as I'm quite sure many of you are thinking about, I believe that we should address the events that have transpired last night."

"Alright, alright, but just _what _in the hell happened last night?"

I hear Tsunoda bitching and whining in the back. He's obviously not all there yet, and he groans a bit while holding his head. Mr. Shido keeps up his pleasant demeanor in spite of this spectacle.

"Just _what the hell _indeed, Maruyama-kun. I think I'll let this piece of evidence explain itself."

Our teacher walks back towards the front and reaches into a backpack lying around. I recognize it as one of the bags that Tsunoda scavenged while we were out finding supplies and stuff. Shido pulls something out with each of his hands and presents them to the class.

"This is but a fraction of what was consumed by you all last night."

Two large, empty bottles of alcohol... Given what I've already learned, that's the final, conclusive sign that, yes, we really did get fucked up last night. I already accepted this notion before, but to everyone else on the bus, this comes as quite a shocker.

"S-Shido-sensei, what... what is the meaning of this?"

Fumiko looks visibly shocked and distressed when she sees the bottles of alcohol, frantically yelping out. Fumiko has always seen herself as a girl incapable of wrongdoing, and maintaining her innocence means quite a bit to her... in fact, even to me, her drinking seems far-fetched, but given the fact she has the same headache as the rest of us, she's not as above the influence as she thought... it's sort of depressing to think about, in a way, but I don't really find myself to complaining about it.

"Yup... I don't know if Ozaki-kun or Kurokami-kun knew of this, but it appears that Maruyama-kun salvaged quite a bit of alcohol. Upon the celebrations of everyone's return to this bus, he at some point in the night passed around several bottles of these to everyone, and you all indulged quite a bit in it..."

There was more commotion coming about among the students, many of them directing their surprise or even anger at Tsunoda. Including Kurokami, who seems like he knew nothing of Tsunoda's plot.

I mean... I know that Tsunoda and Kurokami recovered some alcohol, though the latter did say he wanted to use it for medicinal purposes... Then again, I also recall Kurokami say that it could be used to get fucked up if we were at deaths door, or something along those lines. Regardless, I sure as hell didn't know anyone smuggled enough alcohol to pass around for _everyone _here, which means they took in a lot more than what I was aware of.

"Yes... As you can imagine, I saw a few surprising ordeals playing out last night while you all took part in this little drinking party you had. Things done that I would probably never have expected students of mine to do..."

Shido continued, and by this point Fumiko and Momo were feeling a bit humiliated by this happening, though the rest of the class didn't really seem to give a shit over the fact they were drunk. From Yuuki and Tsunoda, that doesn't surprise me much. Kurokami and Yamada though, those two social introverts in the back don't seem to be expressing much emotion at the moment, so I can't really gauge what the hell they feel over this. Yamada at the very least looks... troubled by this, but in what way I can't really tell yet.

"You! Bastard! This is your fault this all happened!"

I hear a female's voice yell out. Our attention is directed towards a redhead, standing up and pointing her finger at Tsunoda. The bleach-blonde student looked back at Momo somewhat incredulously.

"Oh, and is it also my fault you got drunk off your ass too? You're the one who chose to pick up a bottle or two and get drunk, bitch."

"Damn it, why I oughta...!"

"Both of you, please, enough of this!"

Fumiko attempts to grab Momo by the collar in an attempt to make sure her friend doesn't run off to kick Tsunoda's ass. It's kind of funny at this point to see that with the exception of Yuuki who's pretty much our resident slut, Tsunoda has every girl he meets wanting to kick his ass. Except this time, Momo's not much of a physical fighter, not to my knowledge. And I don't think Tsunoda would mind at all hitting her. Thankfully Fumiko is there trying to prevent that...

_**"Enough!"**_

Mr. Shido's voice almost echoes within the bus, instantly shutting everyone up and getting their attention. Visibly intimidated, Momo and Tsunoda sit back down in their seats, almost to a point of hiding behind the chairs. Tsunoda almost looks like he craps his pants as he sits down and shuts up.

"Now now, if there was any time to pick a low point for this group, I think right now would be appropriate... and to be honest, I had no qualms about anything anyone did last night."

No shit, of course Shido has no qualms with us getting getting dru-

"Wait, what?"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

"Ah! What do you mean, Sensei?"

All of us manage to sputter out something to our teacher, who had just so proclaimed something we weren't expecting.

"That's right... I have not had any problems with you all drinking last night. In fact I would actually encourage this sort of independent behavior from the bunch of you."

Shido's serious face from before took in our looks of amazement, wonder, and outright confusion. Such expressions from us were things that this teacher truly did enjoy, as he once again clasped his hands getting ready to speak for us all.

"Sensei... but... it's wrong to drink... isn't it? And you said we did... bad things while we were under the influence?"

"Now, now, Kawamura-san... who here on this bus actually proclaimed that it was 'bad,' hmm? Who said that it was 'wrong' to drink?"

Fumiko gets taken aback by such a question posed by her teacher. It's surprising for me, because knowing how much faith she puts in her teacher, this may very well be the first time she doesn't understand the views and mindset of her teacher, or at least as much as she thought.

"Well... we just know it's wrong... right? It's like... what society says."

"Hmm, I see. Well now, you can quite plainly see the state of society right now, can you? The rules of the old world don't necessarily apply to us, Kawamura-san."

Mr. Shido's eyes shifted towards the rest of his students, looking at each and every one of us, scanning any sort of reaction or emotion that may crop up in our facial expression. Approval, confusion, shock, or just that blank 'what' look people often have. Our teacher's quite analytical.

"You see children, we are now the managers of our _own_ society. The society you once knew is currently in shambles. Obviously, we're writing our own rules here, due to the fact that we, _and only we_, possessed the wisdom and fortitude to have made it this far, properly supplemented by food and supplies that we ourselves scavenged no less! Indeed... I've come to the conclusion that those who have tried to follow the ways of our old society will surely perish... Just look at Komuro-kun and Miyamoto-san... And the poor fools who followed in their stead. Surely such absurd behavior is proof enough as is."

Shido brings up a damn good point, but that doesn't make his words any less surprising to hear. We're basically making a plan not to operate like normal Japanese citizens, but... something else, apparently. I can't tell what that quite entails just yet, but it apparently happens to include the right to drink. Something else he brought up: everyone who left the bus. Komuro and Miyamoto should be dead by now, no question about that. But with Busujima-senpai, Hirano, Takagi, and Marikawa-sensei off doing their own business somewhere in the undead wastelands, I think they have a decent shot at lasting a while. They're a rather balanced team, especially since Busujima is the Kendo Queen of Fujimi Academy, and Hirano does have that nail gun of his... But in any case, I don't think it matters just how damn badass you are... sometimes, going out and being a badass isn't practical... Which is why I feel that staying here on this bus is a wholeheartedly smarter decision, a notion which I can agree upon with Mr. Shido on. We'll all just have to see where this "new society" thing goes for us in the future.

But what if those guys are still alive right now? They've got a nurse, who's there to treat non-zombie injuries, a ranger, a melee fighter... it's like a damn video game. It's kinda cool, but... bah, look at me, letting my damn mind wander around.

As the thought of the blank slate we had as a new society started cropping up within the minds of the students here on this bus, it was eventually met with some generally positive reception, though skepticism was abound, even from people who I wouldn't expect to think too hard on it.

"Shido-sensei. You mind if I ask a question about this whole deal?"

"Certainly, Miku-san. It's always worthwhile to hear an opinion."

Yuuki stood up from her seat in a student-like fashion, as if asking about a question on a test or something.

"What exactly is... acceptable in our whole 'new society' thing? Like, whatever we want?"

"Well, that's a good question. As a leader, and your _teacher _no less, you might expect me to lay down all the rules and make you follow them to a strict letter. However, I feel as though we're all mature, responsible individuals here, and we can handle ourselves fairly well. I will allow you to do whatever you wish... So believe me, Miku-san, I wouldn't want you to feel held back or restrained by our little society here. And I'm quite well-aware of how brazen you can be, but among this family, I feel as though shame should never be felt within our ranks."

"Ohhh... you embarass me, Sensei. But thanks for being so considerate of my simple... _instincts_."

With the kind of shit you hear about Yuuki Miku, embarrassment is _not _something you'd attribute to her. Damn girl knows no shame whatsoever, and with Shido saying shame shouldn't exist here, she'd fit in a hell of a lot better. And yet, Mr. Shido is the only person I've seen able to make Yuuki genuinely... _blush_. It almost makes her look sort of innocent.

I feel myself gag, just a bit, upon thinking that.

"And for that matter, this detail applies to everyone. After all, I'm sure that all of you can't remember the specific details of what went on last night, but I can assure you, some racy activities were abound, and no one acted like a stranger in participating in them..."

I see Fumiko immediately blushing herself, and covering her face with her hands, trying to dispel any sort of image of her doing something lewd. I want to say that I don't blame her, but given the fact she's most likely the one who gave me the hickey on my neck, it's only a bit pitiable right now. She _really _likes being a good girl. Meanwhile, I look back and see Momo looking somewhat amused by Fumiko's reactions, and Tsunoda was trying to talk to Yuuki as to what kind of "racy activities" they must have done last night. I'm guessing nobody had sex, since we're all woke up still clothed... But I think we all must have done_ everything else _instead or something.

Shido claps his hands, trying to once again grab our attention as he speaks once again. We turned our heads, and the look on his face was considerably less pleasant than before, immediately signifying he had something quite serious to say. His eyes panned around rather sternly. Shido's serious face was rather intimidating, especially since we're so used to seeing him putting up a rather jovial personality most of the time.

"Now then, if there are to be _any _rules which we'd need to follow here in this group, it would be this: I will _not _tolerate, under any circumstance, anything that would undermine the prosperity of this group. Disagreements will likely surface here and there on our journey, but I advise that they be resolved quickly, and I'll do my best to mediate these conflicts. But should you prove to be too much of a disturbance within our society, or do anything that so much endangers _anyone, _I'm afraid you will have to be forcibly ejected from this bus. Do I make myself clear?"

We all nod our heads. While this bit of his speech was a little scary, and it did visibly frighten a few of us, to me it's really encouraging to see that he's still our leader, and he's taking responsibility to make sure we don't act out of place here. Shido's generally laid back, but he's stern and strict when he needs to be... I guess we made the right choice in making him our leader.

And in a flash, our teacher is back to his smiling self. It's almost creepy how he was able to switch his 'intimidate' switch on and off like that.

"Good. I trust you'll all play nice then, hmm? As for me, I'm afraid I'll need to rest, momentarily. I took the liberty of actually staying up all night, just to make sure none of you, in your drunkenness, did anything particularly... rash."

Mr. Shido yawned, stretching his arms before going up towards the front of the bus... If he really stayed sleepless all night, then that can definitely explain why he was so drowsy when I saw him the moment I woke up.

I see him suddenly stopping though, right by my bus seat.

"Oh, and Ozaki-kun? A word few more words I could have with you?"

The teacher gestures up towards front of the bus, meaning he wants to talk a relative distance away from everyone else. What's with all the secrecy now? Eh, like I really care. I nod my head and follow Shido up towards the driver's seat. He sits down, getting himself comfortable so that he can take a long, well-deserved nap. I nervously look around, waiting for the guy to reply. Good lord, it's just like when you're in class, and the teacher calls you up to the front of the room... I'm feeling that exact same feeling right now.

"I know of your little... infatuation with one of my star pupils, Fumiko Kawamura."

I nearly choke on my own spit upon hearing those plain and simple words.

"You're awfully blunt, aren't you Sensei?"

He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Yes, well I know my students quite well, Ozaki-kun. And Kawamura-san is no exception. You however, I do not have to pleasure of knowing quite well. So, I must admit, the question of your trustworthiness in this group has come up within my mind a few times."

I feel a pang of uncertainty upon hearing those words. I bead of sweat drops alongside my face. Does he not trust me? What the hell does this mean?

"What, you still don't trust me, after everything I've done? I busted my ass trying to find your classroom after hearing you had survivors, and I even helped get all those supplies from last night. I'd think that serves as proof of my trustworthiness."

"Do not get me wrong, Ozaki-kun. I've grown to see that you have quite a strong moral character right now. Kawamura-san supplements this information with the splendid words she's used in describing you during class. She holds you in quite high regards, you know."

I look at the teacher a bit quizzically. Scratching my head, I feel as though I need to finally sate my curiosity.

"What things has she been saying about me? Some people here from your class act as though they already know me, because they've 'heard about me.' Does she really talk about me that often?"

Mr. Shido laughs a bit, leaning his chair a bit back, while resting his feet atop the bus's steering wheel. Good thing the vehicle wasn't moving or anything right now.

"She mentions you sometimes, though most of what's known comes from her chats with her friend, Momo Ishihara. I trust you are acquainted with her, already? Those two girls don't seem to have a habit of keeping their voices down when discussing gossip. So when they occasionally talk about a certain named Toshio Ozaki, it hardly stays for their ears alone."

Momo and Fumiko talk about me sometimes, huh? I get the feeling Momo badmouths me behind my back. She and I don't necessarily like each other, admittedly. In fact, ever since Fumiko and I reunited when we turned high-schoolers, Momo's kinda been the main reason Fumiko's drifted from me. Do I needlessly cast blame on Momo? Maybe. I don't have any proof. But sometimes I get the impression she's trying to separate me from Fumiko. Some moments in the past being more... explicit than others in that particular regard.

Maybe now I'll finally be less in the dark.

"What have they said?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. Things from you being noble, caring, kind, to other things like you being clingy, jealous, and having the tenacities of a rather aggressive delinquent."

It was pretty obvious to me as to who was saying what. At least I hoped it was as obvious as I was interpreting this. The thought of Fumiko badmouthing me simply... didn't seem feasible, in my mind.

"Well... that's... good to know, I guess..."

I mutter that sentence out a bit halfheartedly. I'll admit, my spirits are slightly down right now.

"Oh no, don't take it the wrong way. In fact, regardless of what anyone might say, Kawamura-san _does _care about you... which is why I wish to help you out a bit."

"What?"

Mr. Shido smirked a bit. His tired eyes did little to hide his amusement. He _really _likes messing with me, doesn't he? I can't tell if he's a really good, lighthearted person or just a manipulative bastard. Am I even being manipulated right now? Is that what he wants me to think?

Oh for fuck's sake, look at me, I'm turning into a paranoid freak. Sooner or later I'll end up like Kurokami or something.

"That's right. I want to help you. It'll be subtle, don't worry. I won't embarrass you or anything. But... I'll occasionally throw in some influence to... gradually get you two to regain your spark. From what I understand the two of you were quite inseparable when you were younger."

I look at him dumbfoundedly.

"What's the catch? Why are you doing this? What makes you give a damn about me? You already said earlier that you didn't trust me..."

"Did I say that? No, I certainly do trust you, Ozaki-kun. I'm simply uncertain of _how much _I could trust you. I know everyone here on this bus well enough. But not you... I know your main motivation for staying here is the girl. I can tell. But... I don't know whether some outside influence would come in to sweep you out from this little family we've got here. Tell me, have you ever fancied the thought of leaving this group, Ozaki-kun?"

His question drills through me like sword. For some reason I expect that he's being extremely analytical of me right now, and my answer might carry a hell of a lot more weight than I realize. He's not considering to throw me out, is he?

"No sir, I don't have a deathwish."

I realize that the answer to that question was said almost immediately after the question. So much for avoiding suspicion... The answer was half-true, anyway. To be honest, I remember the gang that left us earlier. Busujima-senpai. Hirano. Shizuka-sensei. And bitch-Takagi, whom I'm now wondering is even getting along with her friends (if they're still alive, of course). But knowing those first two, I wondered what kind of adventures they might've gotten themselves into. It doesn't help that Saeko is a bokken-wielding hottie and the thought of her kicking ass in this apocalypse was certainly enticing. Nothing I'd want to die over just to see though. I legitimately felt that staying on this bus was more practical for survival. Plus, what kind of guy would I be if I left Fumiko?

Mr. Shido looks at me with a gaze that seems to be going in my head and stealing my thoughts. It's come to my attention now that lying to Shido in the future would _not _be a good idea.

"Hmm. Very well... I knew that you were much more sensible than those who had already left our company. But... say that you _were _willing to leave for some reason. I simply want extra assurance that you don't leave us. You're a good friend, Ozaki-kun. You're gaining the acceptance and trust of others here in my class. And your skills in survival are a bit more refined than others, as far as I can tell... Don't think you're not important to this family, Ozaki-kun."

I finally get to see where Shido is going with all of this information.

"So if you and Kawamura-san... maybe had your friendship strengthened... it could motivate you a bit more than usual to stay with us. Perhaps this friendship becomes more? Who knows. I'll leave that to you two's discretion. How about it, Ozaki-kun? What have you got to lose?"

I honestly don't believe the words I'm hearing right now... is this a spring of good luck, or what? Honestly, it feels weird and intruding that Shido's involving himself in my personal affairs like this, but... I won't shoo him away. And if this really does work out, maybe I'll ironically find myself more trusting of Shido himself. It's weird. Mostly, if you ever read a manga or story of some kind, teachers intervening in student relationships usually lead to embarrassing ends.

_What have you got to lose?_

His words echo in my mind a bit.

"Okay, Shido-sensei. I won't turn down the offer, but really, I think you worry too much. I have no intention of leaving this group, and I doubt I will."

Shido smiles a bit before closing his eyes and getting a bit more comfortable in his chair.

"That's what I like to hear. Now if you don't mind, I've stayed up quite longer than I intended... your leader needs rest if he's able to function, as you understand... so run along now."

He shoos me away with a hand, as he tries to lay back in his stubbornly upright chair and sleep.

Well... that's that.

Again, I still want to kick my own ass over this though. I will never admit Kurokami has the right idea about the way this apocalypse should work, but... in a country full of undeath, chaos, and societies falling apart, the biggest issue that stays on my mind is the uncertainty of winning over a girl. Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself though. With the exception of being outside for a crazy night, this bus is... strangely detached from the happenings of the world around it. Everyone's... relatively normal. On the outside, anyway. I can't help but feel it's what's keeping us largely sane around here. We'd be much worse without this kind of environment, at least I think so. Just another thing to thank our "glorious leader" for, anyway. Fumiko seems normal enough, and whatever impact this disaster had on her personality and psyche seems rather... minimal.

And speak-of-the-angel, there is she is. I catch her talking to Momo and making gestures towards the back of the bus, where about half of this bus's population resides. Ironically a place where some people might want to be isolated. Their expressions were hardly of those a gossiper would wear, and they seemed genuinely concerned about something. Given the fact that I don't see that too often, their topic might be important.

Before I do anything, I take care to button up my jacket all the way and make the collar cover up some of the bruise on my neck; you can still see it just a tad, but it's a hell of a lot less conspicuous, something that the girls probably won't question. I walk over, pretending that I'm not walking towards them intentionally, but rather going towards a seat that happens to be around their general direction. I can't tell whether my half-assed move worked or not, but I grab both the girls' attentions as they gesture for me to come over. _Both of them._ That was a tad strange... Momo hardly ever welcomed my presence.

I sat down on a bus seat right behind theirs. The two girls looked over their shoulders as they greeted me with a wave and smiles.

"What were you talking to Sensei about, Ozaki?"

Momo immediately askes her question. Fumiko looked like she was beaten in terms of asking the question first, as she also seemed curious over my earlier conversation. I suppress the urge to nervously laugh as I try to come up with a bullshit response that sounds believable.

"He wanted to know of my trustworthiness and whether or not I could be depended on in case we need to resupply. More work for me next time, I guess. Last night was a complete hell... what much I can remember, anyway."

Which was pretty much everything up until I walked in the bus after getting the supplies. I bet I wouldn't mind forgetting about the shit I had to go through to get all that stuff though.

"Yeah, I heard you really busted ass out there, Ozaki. Thanks... I say thanks to you, because you're less of a weirdo than those two other guys."

Momo's somewhat kind words were definitely odd, but they were a bit nice to hear, admittedly. It makes me wonder whether Fumiko had an influence in convincing her to say that to me. Is it bad that I always expect the worst out of this girl...?

"Thanks, Ishihara... that means more than you think, coming from you of all people."

"Yeah, yeah..."

She handwaves her comment. Aw, she really does care. I'll be sure to mess with her using this as ammo the next time I get the chance. If I remember this moment, anyway.

"Anyway Toshio, Momo and I were talking about that boy over there, Yamada-kun..."

Oh, Yamada. I look towards the back of the bus, and see that the poor guy's sorta just sitting by himself, isolated from the rest of the people near the back. I would normally find that to be pretty pathetic, if not for the fact that I don't blame him too much; while he's over there, he has to pick from either Yuuki, Tsunoda, or Kurokami to talk to. Not a pleasant trio. Still, he hasn't opted to move up towards the front half of the bus where me, Fumiko, and Momo frequent.

"What about him?"

"He's... always been a bit of a loner ever since we got on this bus. He's not vocal, and he doesn't seem to like to talk to people. Poor guy. Frankly, we're a bit worried about him. He's... sort of that outlier in this bus, you know? He doesn't do much."

Once again, Momo seems to interject and speak faster than Fumiko, explaining everything the latter wanted to say. In fact, Fumiko did about a pouting face towards her friend that looked really cute. Not that I'd let anyone know I thought that, anyway.

"Right... Anyway, as Momo and I were discussing, we wanted to help Yamada-kun get out of his shell a bit and become a bigger part of this group. He agreed to stay with us with Mr. Shido as the leader, but he doesn't seem to enthusiastic about anything. So could you be a nice guy, Toshio, and maybe talk to him?"

Fumiko says the rest of the story, though her eyes weren't looking at me; instead, they were directed towards Momo, silently scolding the redhead. I've never seen Fumiko like this. It was kinda funny seeing these looks on her face. And Momo of all people was provoking them. It must be a girl thing. Girls are_ certainly _weird.

"Is that all...? Well, I guess I could that... Do you know anything about Yamada, though? I mean, he is your classmate after all."

Fumiko inquisitively place a hand on her chin. I could hear what sounded like her foot tapping while she pondered her thoughts.

"Well, Yamada-kun's always been a bit of a loner. Every day, he doesn't seem to much like talking to many people. Poor boy's always been labeled off as a bit shy, in my book."

Huh. Well that always makes things easier. I know I've talked to Yamada a couple times, but I wasn't looking out to actually make friends with the guy. And I maybe feel bad because I recall lashing out at him slightly, so I might've intimidated him. Still, I hate admitting he's the guy I'm probably the least acquainted with on the bus; that really says something, considering the fact that I'm probably better "friends" with Tsunoda and Kurokami, whom I kinda had plenty of time to acquaint myself with during our little escapade last night.

"I see... Well, I guess I'll go talk to the guy."

"Great! Tell us if you got through to that guy when you get back!"

Momo once again probably said something Fumiko wanted to say. I got up from my seat and started to head towards the back, but not before I hear Fumiko heave an aggravated sigh.

"Will you stop that?"

"What? You're the only one who can talk to Ozaki?"

"No, it's not that! It's... it's quite rude to interrupt people when they speak, isn't it?"

"Interrupt? I don't hear nothing from you. You're just a little slow speaking your mind, Dearie."

It's a damn shame those two eventually come out of earshot as I continue walking away from them; that was the healthiest dose of comedy I've heard since the outbreak happened. I can picture them having a possible catfight or a silly name-calling contest at each other. Girls are weird like that, right?

Eventually I come across Yamada, in the corner, at the furthest seat back. As if making it a nonchalant gesture, I casually take a spot on the seat right in front of him, not noting his presence or anything just yet.

_Smooth. _

Anyway, I turn around and look over my shoulder to finally talk to the guy.

"Y'know, you're not doing yourself any favors if you're off just making yourself scarce. Keep this up, Shido might do something stupid like kicking you out of the bus or something."

"W-what?"

I honestly wasn't expecting that reaction from Yamada. His eyes were wide, almost deathly afraid... He took me seriously, did he? Holy shit... I suppress the urge to laugh, but a bit of a smile manages to poke through.

"Hey, I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Just relax, I'm sure Shido wouldn't do something that drastic to you."

Yamada looked at me, still visibly shocked, but more relieved this time, as he breathed a bit easier than he did a few seconds ago.

"Don't scare me like that, man... but... why are you talking to me? Did you just come by to mess with me like the other guys?"

Other guys? I'm guessing he means the other people sitting in the back. Kurokami I don't see actively seeking to mess with people, but knowing them, Tsunoda and Yuuki seem to fit the description a bit better.

"Are they giving you shit about something?"

Yamada shrugged. His eyes trailed around a couple places, presumably towards some of the others on the bus, before turning his eyes away from me and towards the window.

"It's nothing they've never given me before this whole outbreak thing happened. I never really was the popular kid in class. I can handle them."

I didn't know how to quite react to that. Admittedly, I felt it was wrong to just leave the situation be. But I didn't know if I was up to do something about it, not now anyway. I mean, it added a bit of salt to that wound to think that Yamada expected as much from me. And still... I didn't want to tangle with Tsunoda and Yuuki, pissing them off was hardly viable. I wanted to minimize any confrontation with them. In any case, I had to try and make Yamada feel better about himself or something. The girls asked me to, and I felt their hearts were in the right place. Plus him not being a real member of this "family" Mr. Shido made might cause problems later in the future.

"If you say so, Yamada... but... don't think you're alone in all this. I mean, you see those two girls up there? They were concerned about you. Hell, now I've gotten concerned about you. Being a loner's not healthy, man."

Yamada looked at me somewhat surprised. His eyes nervously darted towards the ground, before he closed them trying to contemplate his thoughts. A few awkward moments of silence later, he opens his eyes and lets out a sigh.

"I... appreciate that. Thank you. For me, it's usually not that hard for me to make friends, but given the current situation... with us being on this bus, Shido saying we're a family now... and the weird people we're all stuck with... it's a bit much to take in, you know?"

"Yeah, perfectly sensible. I hear you... On the bright side, if it makes you rest easier, I can tell you that not _all_ the students on this bus are a bunch of freaks. Like me, and the girls up there, I guess."

The brown-haired kid nodded his head, noting my concern, but at the same time I felt like he wasn't going to be in a mood to chat with any of us any time soon.

After a few moments, I become pissed to realize me and him are silent and aren't talking about anything. I need something to keep the conversation flowing. I realize right now, that getting a shy kid to talk to people more isn't really going to be easy. I try to think of something maybe the two of us can relate on.

"So, how were you this morning? My head was kinda aching a bit, but the hangover's subsided by now. I'm betting last night was the first time you tasted alcohol, huh?"

"Shido-sensei was lying..."

Well... that was unexpected. Open up with one topic, and then he changes the subject entirely.

"What?"

"Shido-sensei... he was lying about what went on last night."

I get the feeling that even though Shido is on the complete opposite side of the bus, and is _sleeping _no less, he might offhandedly hear Yamada saying ill of him. Even if he doesn't saying such a thing out loud to the others might not be the best thing.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I ask him in a hushed voice, hoping he'd get the picture to not raise his damn voice.

"Well... Shido wasn't _completely _lying, but... he was embellishing a bit. When he said people got drunk last night, he was making everything they did last night out to sound worse than what actually happened. I mean, he made people think they were screwing last night, most people actually just passed out after they got drunk."

"How the hell do you know this? Weren't you drunk too?"

"I... uh, no... I didn't want to. And last night... Shido was the one who actually offered everyone drinks. It wasn't Tsunoda, like he said. Shido goaded everyone until they drank some of the stuff you guys brought last night... I guess he thought everyone accepted his offers. I didn't."

"Why the hell would he do that?"

"I don't know... it's... weird, but since everyone was okay with Shido-sensei during his little speech earlier about doing what we want, I didn't want to break the mood and say something. Someone might've gotten angry with me. I guess last night truly didn't happen, huh?"

Well... damn. Evidently, Shido got the class drunk. Why? I have no fucking clue. Make himself look good or something? I don't know. That seemed... off. But if Yamada's to be believed, Shido essentially cast blame on Tsunoda for this weird night we all had. This odd turn of events certainly makes Shido seem like a... much more strange figure than I had pictured him before. I'll be more wary, but that in no way means I'm ready to leave the bus or anything.

I guess I'll need to focus on lighter manners...

Hey... since Yamada was sober last night, does that mean he saw what happened with most of us?

"Yamada, you said you were sober and saw everything that happened last night, right?"

"Most of it. I had to wait for some people to quiet down before I could fall asleep."

"Right then... so, how'd my jacket end up on Fumiko? Did I become some kinda drunken gentleman when she fell asleep?"

"Um... No... Mr. Shido actually did that. He took your jacket off of you while you were sleeping and he put it over her. He cares about his star-students, I guess?"

Well now, a little bit of my hopes are crushed at this moment. I guess I'm not a noble drunk after all. I'm just a normal drunk. Not like that means much or anything. Again though, it makes me recall Shido's earlier talk of helping me out with Fumiko. Was that his attempt so that when she woke up, I would look good? It makes some sense. Wow, Shido trying to make me look good... that's certainly something. Too bad when she woke up, Fumiko didn't know what the hell was going on and I took my jacket back before she could appreciate the "kind gesture", so to speak.

That brings me to my second question: Who the hell gave me this hickey? I'd be kinda stupidly happy if it was Fumiko after all. Anyone else, I'd be dreading it.

"Oh, and... do you know who gave me this, Yamada?"

I undid the first few buttons of my jacket and moved the collar away from my neck so he could see the hickey. Yamada looked at it for a few moments trying to figure out what it was, before he let out an "Oh!" and nodded. He looked a bit astonished, really. And I couldn't tell if that was good or bad astonishment.

"Yeah... uh, that was... _really _something last night. Who'd have thought you used to date Yuuki Miku?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Yuuki gave that to you last night... both of you were still pretty drunk, and both of you were pretty much the last people awake before you passed out. She kept saying stuff about the "good old days" between you and her or something. You shooed her away a bunch of times, but eventually you just gave up and made out with her."

I _gag _on my own spit. I gag to the point _where it hurts. _Then it almost looks like I'm deathly choking on something, so Yamada starts to have a minor freak-out before I gesture to him that I'm fine. Even though I'm not.

The fact I touched Yuuki in any affectionate way again disgusted me... Dating her was an impulsive, emotional thing. And since the day we left each other, I've set my standards way higher than to just whores.

"You're right. Last night never truly did happen."

Yamada looks at me curiously, before actually letting out a laugh... Hey, I made him laugh. That's a good sign, right?

"Well, I guess so..."

Over by the front of the bus, I can see Fumiko and Momo beckoning me back over, as if to hear of my progress in getting through to Yamada. There's a few more questions I'd want to ask, but at least I got the biggest ones in my mind answered already. For now though, there was one more thing I wanted to address before I left.

"Hey, Yamada... so... you kind of know what... _really _goes on here, right? Like when Shido... wasn't completely honest?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you... maybe tell me whenever he does something like that? Some people might not like that bit of info you might tell them, but I think it's good if I know..."

The brown-haired kid looked at me a bit uncertainly. He placed a hand on his face, thinking, before nodding his head.

"Alright... it'll be good to talk to someone then. We can talk about other stuff, right?"

"Sure. Whatever the hell you want."

"Does... does that mean we're friends now?"

Ever since this bus, the word "friend" has taken a skewed meaning. I'm friends with Fumiko, yes. But I think I'm technically also friends with people like Tsunoda and Kurokami. So it was weird thinking about how broad that word can be passed around.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, so long, Yamada."

I smile and nod, as I get up from my chair and move along. Admitting friendships like in the manner I did was... awfully awkward, but I'm honestly a bit more accepting and comfortable about a friendship with Yamada than the other two boys. Maybe I'll have to defer to Yamada whenever something's up around here...

In the end, this morning... pretty damn weird. And to be honest, that god damn headache of mine from this moment still lingers in my mind just a bit to piss me off. I almost stumble for a moment on my way back to the girls, causing an embarassment to myself and the rest of the peers who happen to catch notice of this.

I dearly, dearly hope that we don't have another drinking endeavor again. Shido better not cause another ruckus. Back when I got drunk the first time back in Tokonosu Academy, one of my teachers caught on that I had gotten drunk last night, but he was a cool enough guy to let me off the hook. The one thing I remember him saying to me though, is:

"First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man."

True story, right there.


End file.
